


Soul Survivor [Redux DeSu Edition]

by KazuSakai



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2, Supernatural
Genre: Adopted Fic, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Implied Relationships, Implied Slash, Mythology References, Of course Religion and Myths would be included, Reincarnation, Religious References, Spoilers, Take everything about the Myths and Religions with a grain of salt, This is Shin Megami Tensei we're talking about, To both games and the book series, What-If, With a bucket of rock salt on the side for good measure, also, cross-over
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-23 19:27:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 71,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7476849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KazuSakai/pseuds/KazuSakai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Killing Curse hit the infant son of Lily Evans, it activated an ancient curse.<br/>When Dumbledore forgot to include the Squib cousin of Lily in his plans for the Boy-Who-Lived, it derailed way beyond repair.<br/>When Cain realized he could help Abel see the truth at the start, his plans got changed for the better.<br/>When his Father decided to save him from permanent death by transporting him to an abandoned parallel world, Gabriel didn't thought he would be <em>forced</em> to be a Guardian Angel.<br/>When Kazuya thought he and his friends would be having an out of the city summer trip, he didn't expect to be part of an ordeal sent by the Heavens.<br/>Nor would he expect to discover the truth of his own existence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue to the Tournament

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The Distorted Shadow](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=The+Distorted+Shadow).
  * Inspired by [Harry Potter And The Throne of Bel](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/213135) by The Distorted Shadow. 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Even though it has been stated that the Akashic Records contains all information of the past, present and future in its pages, there’s a situation that rarely happens. A variation. A splinter. A ‘sentence’ changed that it caused its ‘chapter’ to differ from its other ‘chapters’. Thus, the Akashic Records will strive to archive the discrepancy._
> 
>  
> 
> _It is the result of what we humans call free will._

 

Part 1

Rose Minegishi, a cousin of Lily and Petunia Evans in their father’s side of the family, was visiting her cousin in England on that evening of October 31. She and her cousins had a fallout of sorts when Lily, her favorite cousin and a confidant of a secret of hers, went to a private school somewhere in Scotland while Petunia wasn’t even given a chance to take a glance of it.

Petunia laid down her anger and rage to Rose at that time, for Lily was already off to her private school. Rose came home an hour later to their home, tears in her eyes and hair frizzled as if she was electrocuted.

According to Petunia, she just wanted to see the school her _dear and beautiful_ sister will attend to. Rose, on the other hand, knew clearly that Petunia just wanted to gain an upper-hand on Lily at her new school. Lily and Petunia’s rivalry ( _though it was obviously one-sided since Lily had no bad feelings whatsoever to her sister_ ) was so famous in their yearly family gatherings that everyone knew Petunia would do everything to spite her sister.

Nevertheless, Rose decided to visit her cousin after a very long time of no communication. Due to the fallout of theirs, Rose’s family went to Japan ( _after her father got a job promotion to be a staff member of UK Embassy in Japan)_ to avoid another of Petunia’s _fits of anger and rage_ that caused tremendous emotional damage to Rose. Thankfully Rose wasn’t traumatized of the incident.

Rose’s decision to visit Petunia was primarily to inquire about Lily’s whereabouts. Lily and Rose kept in contact with each other through snail mail, so she knew that Lily had graduated from her private school which also included college degrees. Lily was so secretive of her school and her degree that Rose attributed it to Lily’s mischievous attitude to her favorite cousin.

Secondarily was to check on Petunia if she had a good life. Despite the Petunia and Rose had a fallout, Rose herself was a believer of the saying ‘ _family sticks together_ ’.

To her surprise, Petunia faced her greetings of peace with a bucketful of anger and rage. Not that she wasn’t expecting it but it was still surprising to her that Petunia can hold on to grudges after a very long time. And to her astonishment, Petunia wasn’t even a nurse! She was a housewife with a child already!

It wasn’t she hates the idea of women being chained to an image of housewives, Rose admires and honors housewives for they gave all their attention and love to the children and family she had. Its the notion of being a housewife means you are a weak woman, both in spirit and mind, that you chose to stay at home and feed children than to find a job and work instead.

Rose decided to become a banker and in her job she met her love of her life, Takerou Minegishi. Needless to say, they both fell in love after a couple of months and years. They married and they already had a wonderful son who was too smart and intelligent for his age. Well, she couldn’t complain. It seems that Naoya got the wits and charm of both his parents.

So she herself can understand why some women chose to become housewives instead of being working parents. Thankfully they were blessed to have a Naoya as their son, for he is quite independent already despite his young age.

Obviously they didn’t taught Naoya how to wash the dishes himself, even though both of them took turns in watching their son grow up until he can be enrolled in kindergarten.

Her husband was with her inside the Dursley Residence, having a talk with Petunia while Vernon was watching his son Dudley in his nursery room. Rose and Petunia was deep in an argument in whether Petunia will give Rose the address of Lily’s home or not when the lights of the neighborhood went out.

Petunia was astonished when the streetlights went out like they were having a blackout. Rose herself see no problem about it. Power outages would happen sooner or later for she saw some _intense_ partying on the road as she and her husband went to the Dursley Residence.

For heaven’s sake, the partying people were wearing _bathrobes in outlandish colors_! Sooner or later, the drug-laced party goers would hit a power station and cause a wide-spread power outage in Little Whinging.

Takerou once went to a party with his friends and Rose had to fetch him at a police station after he and his friends managed to get inside a power station and caused a blackout to the entire city. So she knew it was possible.

There was a series of knocks on the door that caught the occupants’ attention. Since Takerou was closer to the front door than the others, he went to check it out. Only to bring in a child in a basket with a letter tucked in the blanket the child was wrapped in.

Petunia’s face went ashen when she read the letter accompanying the child.

_“_ No way would I take in child even if it was the last thing I would do in this world!” Petunia screamed. Rose missed hearing that _beautiful shrill_ of her cousin. Even her husband seemed to agree with her, if the expression on his face was any indication.

_“_ What is it, Petunia?” Rose asked.

Her _horse-faced_ cousin pointed the child on the table with the letter she had on one hand and said, “That’s the child of Lily. The letter said she was killed by those of her _kind_ and there was no one else to take care of the child!”

Rose was skeptical. Anything that was related to Lily or connected to Lily always cause Petunia to go into these _fits of anger and rage_ that she can’t be talked to properly anymore. And bring up Lily just to force a child to her would lead to drastic results.

If this was a prank on Petunia, it wasn’t funny. Someone in their family must have told somebody about Petunia’s _trigger_ and used it along with a child. A young child. An innocent child.

_“_ Give me Lily’s address Petunia. And I’ll be taking the child with me, to see if it _is_ Lily’s child. We need to confirm what is written in that letter to be true,” Rose said. She had to bring back Petunia before she went down in her _insanity._ It would take _hours_ before she would calm down.

But there was an advantage whenever she went into this, ask anything and she would give it. As long as you don’t include her _trigger_ , Petunia would answer anything.

Petunia grabbed the pen Rose was handing to her and wrote down an address at the back of the letter. She then handed it to Rose and pushed the child in the basket. “Make sure you take this child away from me. I don’t want to see anything about Lily. And I don’t want another child, if it wasn’t Lily’s. Dudley is all I need and always will be!”

Petunia can be such a chore to deal with. Accepting the letter, Rose rose and walked away from the table, carrying the child in her arms with her.

_“_ Godric’s Hollow... huh. Quite a distance, isn’t it Takerou?”

Her husband, who prefer to keep silent unless needed to, spoke, “It is but we can go there tomorrow. It’s getting late and the child looks like it needs some well-deserved rest.”

Rose only nodded.

The couple, along with their fast asleep son who was with Takerou all the time they were with Petunia, exited the house and entered the car that was parked across the street. Rose was about to close the door of their rented car when Petunia slammed open the door of the building and threw the basket onto the streets.

Smashed into the pieces, the clutter of the basket was left on the road as the Minegishi Family drove off.

* * *

Part 2

_“_ -and I keep telling you. The couple who lived there were here yesterday and now there aren’t. If you say that their child is that kid you are holding, then check the village registry. I’m pretty sure they had the child fingerprints or something that may point that this is the couple’s child.”

_“_...Or you two can get a DNA test. You said you are the child’s maternal aunt, right?”

_“_ His mother is my cousin.”

_“_ Ah, so that makes you his first cousin once removed. Or the second aunt!”

_“_...”

_“_ Anyway, you two looks well off, right? The fees for a DNA test would come easy to you two, especially since your husband there looks like a foreigner. Hey is he a foreigner? Wow, you lucked out!”

_“_...Thank you for your help. May I be excused?”

_“_ Huh? Oh, okay. Sure, sure. Come again, okay?!”

By the time the couple arrived at the village town hall, Rose had a headache of incredible proportions.

_“_ This is why I hate talking to people, especially nosy ones,” the red head complained to her husband. Takerou reached out to his wife and tightly hugged her, while avoiding not to crush the sleeping tyke in front of Rose.

_“_ You can’t really deny that you _lucked_ out in marrying me though.”

Rose lightly punched her husband on his shoulder in retaliation.

The village town hall was quite empty, with only a haggard looking young lady manning the desk. Rose approached the young woman and asked for the records of one Harry James Potter.

The tired young woman made no noise of complaint and went to the file cabinets. She came back 5 minutes later with three folders.

_“_ I won’t ask why you need them but these are the only copies we had here. Harry James E. Potter was born here in Godric’s Hollow so there would be no records of his birth certificate anywhere else. His parents, James P. Potter and Lily Joan E. Potter, filed their birth certificates one time,” the young woman spoke in a deadpan manner.

_“_ Why are you giving us theirs too?” her husband asked, who was confused as well.

_“_ Just before you came here, Rick came by and told me the Potters were gone. He’s the newspaper boy around these parts, if you are interested. No one was responding to his calls so he went inside. The entire house was trashed. He feared he will see dead bodies, but there wasn’t any. So I’ll file a missing persons report to the police if they will ever come across those two.”

The young woman then grabbed her glass of water and gulped it down before continuing.

_“_ That kid you have there is indeed Harry James E. Potter. I would know since I was there when we was given birth to. My mother was the mid-wife. Anyways, I give you their papers because I had a feeling you will need them soon. You’re gonna adopt the kid, right?”

Rose had no answer for that. She and her husband had no plans for another child nor adopting one. But if this was her cousin’s child, then she wouldn’t want to have him stay at Petunia. Speaking of Petunia and relatives...

_“_ May I ask where are the relatives of James Potter? If we are going to adopt his son, they would claim in the future that I stole him from them.”

_“_ Check the papers, he filed his parents as dead and no other living relatives. He’s practically an orphan. A recent orphan, if what he filed. I recall they died just a few year ago? Yeah, probably. Then again, they must be too old to live since they had a grandchild...”

Takerou then finished the conversation for Rose. “Thank you very much. We need to be going.”

_“_ Oh. Okay. See you again soon.” The tired young woman then went to a nearby bench and laid down. A minute later, she was fast asleep on the bench.

As Takerou was entertaining his son while they were walking back to their rented car, Rose pondered on the mystery her favorite cousin got into.

_“_ Something must have happened last night. The people in the village kept saying Lily and her husband was alive and well yesterday and now they couldn’t find a trace of them. Their house was trashed, with signs of a very bad robbery and conflict, and their son was found in front of Petunia’s doorstep. Miles away from Godric’s Hollow.” Rose exclaimed. She couldn’t understand what was happening. It was all too confusing to her.

Takerou calmed her down by patting her back and making circular shapes with his fingers. “Calm down Rose. We first must confirm that this kid right here is Lily’s son. We can discuss things later.”

With a huff, Rose nodded. She and her husband must prioritize things. It all boils down to whether or not this kid she was carrying was indeed her cousin’s son.

By the time the Minegishi was far away from Godric’s Hollow, a weirdly dressed old man came to the town. A day after, the residents of Godric’s Hollow had no recollection of having a couple with Potter surname living in the village nor was there a house in a certain lot.

To them, its just an abandoned lot owned by a very private person. They also have a monument for World War 2 soldiers in the center of the village, to which they would claim it was already there before they even settled down.

A certain tired young lady wouldn’t remember seeing the birth of a baby boy nor filing a birth certificate for the child. Not that she would have any documents to refer to in the first place.

* * *

Part 3

Naoya Minegishi watched quietly as his parents kept on moving from place to place. He also went with them for he was only 6 years old. Who would leave a six year old alone home even though the said six year old is mature enough to take care of himself? No one. Especially when the child is not even a child in mind but only in body.

Still, it was nice to have parents that actually adores you. Even if he experienced it countless of times due to his _punishment._ Naoya wasn’t even expecting much in the trip he and his parents were in. For all that he knew, his family was visiting a relative of his mother.

But the moment he woke up the day after, he never would have expected to find his _brother_ at a very young age. And his _brother_ was actually his cousin twice removed. Or second cousin. Whatever.

The fact remains that in this reincarnation, his _brother_ is actually a blood relative of his. And he even has the same condition as his _brother’s true condition._

From what he can gather from his parents conversation, they are relatives from his aunt’s side. Sadly Harry’s parents, his _brother’s_ current name, vanished the day before he was found on the doorstep of his aunt.

Since his other aunt, whose face resemble a horse, cannot be trusted with the son of her sister due to several reasons, his parents decided that they will take care of Harry.

Of course, he jumped immediately to the idea. He went through several reincarnations before and never he had encountered with his _brother_ being a baby when they met. Perhaps he can truly show his _brother_ this time the truth without him running away or being indifferent to him. It was usually due to his _brother_ having a different mindset or perspective than him. Except for that one time they almost succeeded but they failed and both of them died.

When his parents arrived from where they examined his _brother’s_ blood, they all went to a department store and bought clothes needed for travel. Naoya and his parents weren’t poor but they can afford to buy things when they need too. So clothes for his soon-to-be brother wouldn’t hurt. Not to mention, they all were hungry for it was noon already.

The airplane ride back to Japan couldn’t take them faster causing Naoya’s impatience to grate on his nerves. He had to convince both of his parents to make the adoption official before he could do more. It would be weird to see a six year old filing adoption papers when an adult can be called in instead.

By the time they arrived at their home at Shimokitazawa, Kitazawa Area in Setagaya-ku of Tokyo, his soon-to-be adopted brother had fallen asleep and both of his parents were dead tired from the trip. Not to mention he was tired as well. Given that the personnel at the airport gave them a bit of trouble when they tried to implicate them of kidnapping.

The papers given to them by that lady at the village was useful for it was recognized by the people at the General Register Office at England, although they had to replace it with a much newer and updated version of the certificate. Necessity required them to file for adoption papers at the GRO so that the Japanese Government won’t hassle them if they tried to adopt Harry there.

A couple of discreet donations to the staff changed their minds in denying their papers. It works every-time.

After his parents carried a tired Naoya and Harry to his own bed and a brand new crib, respectively, in Naoya’s room, Takerou and Rose went to their own room to get some rest.

Naoya, on the other hand, didn’t went to sleep immediately but watched over his _brother_ until he was fast asleep.

“I will show you the truth _Abel_ and hopefully you will understand the reason why I did such a thing.”

* * *

Part 4

Kazuya Minegishi was having the best time in his life. He was just given a pair of bran new headphones from his Naoya-nii. It was a special one, a personalized headphones made specially for him by the best brother in the world.

Well, they aren’t really brothers. More like cousins, since he was adopted into his brother’s family after his own parents went missing after a year he was born. They also had a distant cousin from their father’s side of the family who often comes to their place because his parents frequently leave him there.

To be honest, Mr and Mrs. Kuze could leave Hibiki with them permanently if they want to. Naoya and their parents agreed with him one time he spoke about adopting his older cousin into their family. They adopted Harry and gave him a new start by giving him a name, they could also do the same for Hibiki.

But they can’t since Hibiki’s parents seem to want Hibiki suffer. One day, Kazuya will get his cousin out of there and move in with them. Or with Naoya. His brother rambled to him an hour ago about getting a place for himself in Aoyama-ku.

Which was quite far from Setagaya-ku. But Naoya was _rambling_ , maybe he won’t do it. He is of course not allowed to move out from their home, despite Naoya acting older than his age. Seriously, Naoya is only 13 years old. Why would he want to move out?

Did he doesn’t want to be with them anymore? Does he want to get away from his little brother?

Lately, Naoya was being discreet to him and his parents. Off somewhere doing whatever he wants nowadays. Last time they caught Naoya sneaking out, Kazuya had to drag his big brother away from the petting zoo. Only his brother would sneak in a petting zoo in the middle of the night just to feed them.

He asked why he did that when they could do it in daylight. Naoya’s answer was a quiet, “I want to try why you liked doing it.”

It confused Kazuya’s mind until he had remembered feeding a bunch of ducks in the middle of the park. The ducks nearly drowned him with their feathers when he accidentally tore the bag of duck pellets.

_“_ I didn’t liked it, you know. The ducks drowned me with their feathers. I did it because I was told so.” His parents want him to experience feeding the birds, since they did so moments ago.

He expected his Naoya-nii to laugh at him but instead of the laugh, he got an expression of confusion and shock. Kazuya heard then after-wards Naoya mumbling about “ordered” and “didn’t wanted to”.

Clearly his brother misunderstood but then again, this was his brother. He was a pain to deal with and it will take some time to melt that frosty wall he kept in front of him but when you got pass through it, Naoya is the best person anyone could have.

His affections for his brother may have affected his judgment, but who cares anyway. This was his brother.

And Naoya just gave him the best headphones in the world. He was apparently building the headphones the last weeks for his birthday. The epic quality of the headphones were the best gift for his 7th birthday.

Not to mention his other gift from his brother. He will be personally tutoring him on his skills. His magical skills.

Ever since he can remember, he could always turn people’s hair into a different color or make things float when he can’t reach it. Kazuya also remembered that he once wished he could be at the top of the roof so he could take the baseball and then he was there.

And every-time. he did those things, his Naoya-nii was there to help him get through those. It was their secret. A secret between brothers.

His Nii-sama also had magic like him. Naoya also knew how to help him whenever he got trouble with it. Kazuya was ever so thankful to his brother when he accidentally found Kazuya on the school’s rooftop 2 years ago.

Ever since that event, his Naoya-nii help him control it. Undoing the color changing tricks and the floating trick he frequently do in secret were the things his Nii-sama help him on.

Naoya did his tutor sessions at the park near BST in Shibuya-ku, even though he had to travel from his Junior High School in Minato-ku just so he could tutor him. He told Kazuya that the tutor sessions he gave to him were just to help him ease his way in his magical education.

Once he reaches 4th Grade, the Ministry of Education will soon scout students who can do magic and enroll them in a special class. Their parents were aware of this already, for he too was once a student in one of those special classes. But he was given a premature graduation because he was too smart already.

Kazuya wasn’t even surprised that even in magical education, his dear brother would excel in it that they were _forced_ to make him leave because he was _too smart._

Still, his Naoya-nii was the best brother he could ever ask for. Even if he does some weird stuff every once in a while.

Kazuya was sitting on the bench at the park, waiting for his brother to come back. Naoya had to buy some snacks from a _konbini_ so Kazuya was alone for a while. Normally no one would allow a 7 year old to be alone in the middle of the park but he wasn’t a normal kid. Like his Nii-sama, he had magic to defend himself.

Instead of encountering a bad man, he found himself staring at kid around his age. The boy stumbled on his feet and caused a noise that startled Kazuya.

Kazuya helped the boy get up on his feet and lead him to his bench. The boy was wearing the same uniform as his so he must be from a different class.

_“_ You okay?”

_“_ Uh-uh, I’m okay. Sorry for the trouble.”

_“_ It’s alright. I’m waiting for my brother to return from the store so I had nothing to do. You?”

_“_ I... I need to go back home now.”

_“_ Oh...” Which was kinda sad. They only met and he had to leave. They haven’t exchanged names yet!

_“_ Minegishi Kazuya, nice to meet you.

_“_...Is it written as ‘becoming peace and harmony’ or ‘single exclamation’?”

Oh boy. Sometimes he doesn’t understand why his parents gave him a name that can be written as an exclamation.

_“_ The one with the exclamation. I want the ‘peace and harmony’ but my parents decided to give me a name with the number one.”

_“_ Heh.” Hey, he laughed.

_“_ Kihara Atsuro, nice to meet you too. It is spelled as ‘sincere youth’.”

_“_ Cool, at least it suits you.” It’s true. Kazuya can feel it. Atsuro is a truly a sincere person.

_“_ Thanks. Hey, you have the same uniform as I do? Same school?”

_“_ Yep! Different class though. Too bad, right?”

_“_ Nah, we can still meet tomorrow. Right?”

Oh yeah, Atsuro must go home soon. “Yep! Hey, aren’t you going home now? Let’s meet tomorrow at school!”

With that, Atsuro jumped from the bench and ran again towards the direction he was running towards before he stumbled. “Yeah! See ya!”

After Atsuro yelled his farewell, his brother decided to make his presence available to Kazuya. Which startled Kazuya again.

_“_ Naoya-nii, you’re late! And I just made a new friend! He’s from my school too! Too bad you missed him.”

_“_ Hm... Well you could introduce him to me next time. We have to go home now. It’s getting late. And here, here’s your pudding.” The bag of snacks was then thrown towards Kazuya, to which he caught and rummaged through immediately.

_“_ Eat it on the way. The station is quite a walk.”

_“_ Thanks Naoya-nii. Love you.”

_“_...Love you too.”

Kazuya then stuffed the empty plastic bag into his backpack and placed the special headphones around his neck. His Naoya-nii was already way ahead of him so he sprinted towards his dear brother with his lanky legs.

Naoya walked a bit slower so that _Abel_ could catch up to him.

* * *

Part 5

Although Atsuro’s parents decided to transfer him to another Junior High School after they graduated from Elementary School, Atsuro managed to persuade his parents to enroll him in Tokyo Metropolitan Shinjuku Yamabuki High School. The same High School where Kazuya enrolled in.

Throughout the years between Elementary and High School, Kazuya gained a friend in Atsuro. A best friend. A title Atsuro kept on gloating to every person they came across. Which was a reason why his parents decided to enroll in a different Junior High School than what Kazuya’s parents decided on.

Kazuya and Atsuro kept in contact with each other through the internet and other mobile communication methods, like texting and calling. They even hanged out once in a while when Atsuro’s parents weren’t in Japan.

In Elementary, Kazuya noticed that Atsuro’s parents weren’t there when the school had a meeting with the students’ parents. It lead to Atsuro admitting his parents were working abroad and he only had a nanny to watch over him at his house. Due to this admittance, Kazuya roped Atsuro in spending time at his home instead at his home at Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo.

It was already dangerous for Atsuro to travel from Akasaka to Shibuya so with a bit of persuading of Kazuya to his parents, Rose and Takerou Minegishi prepared an extra bed for Atsuro in Kazuya’s room. Atsuro was glad enough to spend some time with Kazuya, though he had to go back time to time at his house at Akasaka when his parents came back.

Until 6th Grade, Atsuro had a reason to stick with Kazuya and spend nights with the Minegishi Family. But after that Nayuta and Kagun Kihara decided that Atsuro be enrolled in a Junior High School away in Akasaka, just to dissuade their son in not leaving their house for a long period of time.

That didn’t broke their son’s friendship with Kazuya though. In fact it was even tempered by their distance, not that they can’t meet up when Atsuro’s parents went back overseas for work.

Atsuro also spent time on the internet and various forums when he had to spend time at his house or whenever he had spare time. Given the number of times he had to spend time alone, it was no wonder Atsuro picked up things on the internet, ranging from simple, like how to make pancakes, to obscure, like government conspiracies.

There he discovered a genius computer programmer on a certain forum with a handle of [CAIN] to which he followed closely. At first [CAIN] was skeptical on Atsuro’s attempts in having conversation with him, given that Atsuro himself was only an elementary student at that point. But Atsuro was tenacious in his attempts to learn from the mysterious [CAIN].

Atsuro was mystified by technology and the jargon related to it, with his background of having technology as a common sight ever since he was five. Add the fact that he seldom spend time with his parents after they can affirm Atsuro can ‘take care of himself’.

Meanwhile, Kazuya had been introduced to the magical community of Japan when he was approached by a teacher on his first day in 4th Grade. His mother, Rose Minegishi, vehemently denied any attempts to enroll Kazuya in the special classes, with her having experience before when Naoya enrolled once. Once was enough especially when Naoya was _forced_ to leave after-wards and pursue _private tutoring_.

Apparently it wasn’t _good_ that there was a _genius_ in their special classes. Rose wouldn’t have made a big deal about it except for the fact that the Magic Ministry of Education had the gall to _fine_ them for having a _genius_ child.

Rose hadn’t understood much of their words of _wisdom_ but she understood enough that she wouldn’t want her other son to experience it again. Besides, Kazuya had Naoya with him and Naoya had more than enough to teach Kazuya what he needed to learn.

Suffice to say, Kazuya and Naoya was glad. Kazuya for he will be continuing his tutor sessions with Naoya again and Naoya for the same reason, albeit tutoring _Abel_ on the truth along with the magical lessons.

In Junior High School, Atsuro met Keisuke. Keisuke was a kind person especially when he defended other students from bullies. He became friends with Keisuke when he joined in defending the bullied students. Keisuke was a breathe of fresh air in Takamatsu Junior High School for Atsuro, since only Keisuke can keep up with Atsuro in terms of wit.

Not that it meant Atsuro was the smartest in his entire class, it only meant that Keisuke was the only one who can get along with Atsuro when he slipped into speaking ‘otaku’ stuff. Other students were put off by his ‘otaku’ attitude, for they don’t share Atsuro’s fascination. In fact, they pushed Atsuro to indulge himself on the internet through their actions.

By the time Atsuro finished Junior High, Atsuro was expecting to have some sort of contact with Keisuke. Since before they left, he had shared his contact details with Keisuke. But Keisuke never contacted him in his new high school.

At Kazuya’s side, he met a certain girl in Harajukugaien Junior High School who caught his interest. Tanikawa Yuzu was a bubbly girl who got lucky or unlucky to be seated next to him. Both of them got along that she became his best friend in the school.

She was perky and always had the best interest of others that it was hard to get angry or stay mad at her. Yuzu was that nice. Although she’s a bit naive at times, she has the well being of her friends in her head. And Kazuya is included in those she claim as friends.

Kazuya too claimed her as a friend, the female counterpart to Atsuro. If Atsuro was his right-hand man then Yuzu was his left-hand woman... Which sounded wrong now that he thought about it. It was an insult to both of his friends if he slot them in predefined archetypes.

Both are his best friends. And with Atsuro meeting Kazuya and Yuzu whenever he got the time to get out from his house, they too became friends. Well, with Atsuro mangling Yuzu’s name into Sodeko or sometimes mangling the pronunciation into Yoohoo, their friendship was starting off with a great start. Yuzu even start calling Atsuro as Atsu-wrong and Otakuro in retaliation.

Both of their banters were made with nothing but pure fun. Since flinging playful insults seem to be their way of greeting one another when they decide to meet up. Kazuya soon became the designated mediator of the group, to which he always moan about and complain.

He used to be the one that was to be watched out, not the one who does the watching. Still, he won’t replace his friends for anything.

Kazuya also introduced them to his brother. Atsuro met Naoya before when they were in Elementary and occasionally during Junior High when Atsuro came over to Kazuya. Yuzu’s introduction to Naoya was worth mentioning, for anyone who met Naoya for the first time would be given shivers with how his eyes seem to judge your very soul. Yuzu wasn’t exempted to it, neither was Atsuro when he met his Nii-sama.

And speaking of Naoya, he took his tutor session with him seriously. Now that Kazuya was registered as a home-schooled magic practitioner to the Japanese Ministry of Magic, thanks to the actions of his Naoya-nii, Kazuya was taught more of his brother’s knowledge in magic.

According to his brother, magicians like them were given a gift to help other people. Studies say that their magical abilities were an evolution of their genes, making magic as an ability exclusive to humanity. Also, spirits and other mythical beings exist.

But they are secluded by several barriers of magic created by several magicians. Especially in a country that was deep in myths and spiritual belief, these spirits and mythical beings are also powered by humanity’s belief.

Since humanity gained the ability to have magic, forcing one’s will into the world, their beliefs affected the world around them. Which then produced the said spirits and mythical beings.

However, Naoya told him that this was only applicable in Japan. He haven’t confirmed it if it was true somewhere else yet. But he has a plan to test his theory and he needed Kazuya’s help.

So on his 11th birthday, Kazuya went to the new apartment his Nii-sama moved in. Their parents agreed to Naoya moving out as long as he kept in contact with them. It also helped that Naoya decided to announce his moving because a week after their cousin came to them and asked if he could stay with them for an indefinite time. Kazuya felt that at last Hibiki made his decision to leave from his family.

It was obviously blatant to people that Kenbi and Yuiitsu Kuze don’t care for their son, even Takerou plead his half-brother to give attention to Hibiki. But apparently both of Hibiki’s parents don’t see the way they treat their child.

His brother prepared some sort of ritual in the middle of a room. Kazuya stood in a middle of a circle with candles and some items he didn’t knew a thing about. His Nii-sama then spoke in a strange but familiar language and soon he blanked out.

Kazuya trusted Naoya on this. He had his absolute trust and permission on this ritual. Naoya wouldn’t do anything that would hurt him and he too wouldn’t do anything that would do the same to his brother.

By the time he regained consciousness, he was on a bed and his brother was talking with a man on the table beside his bed.

* * *

Part 6

Gabriel’s last memory before he was summoned was dying by his brother’s hand. His own blade was used to kill him. At any rate he left a video for the two brothers to follow in case he died, which happened to him in the end.

Still, he died. The end. Let the credits roll. Gabriel knew that his Father made them without any backup of sorts, which he thought sucked hard and brilliant at the same time. It sucked because he died and he can’t be resurrected, just like how they can resurrect humans as long as they file the necessary paperwork beforehand, and brilliant for the reason if, not when, the brothers managed to off dear Lucy then Lucy won’t be coming back.

But he wasn’t dead. He was alive. Maybe after he lost consciousness when his Grace leaked out of him and dissipated into nothing or during his half-delusional state while dying, he was summoned somewhere.

Gabriel felt something powerful summoning him and it gave him a boost of power to heal his wounds. But there was something else that came with the boost.

A seal. A contract. Maybe the Fates were playing him or this was his Father’s work but apparently giving him a boost of power to heal his wounds equate to him being in a binding contract with the summoner.

Boy was it a strong contract. The feeling he can get from the contract was like a metal chain around his neck with a series of Archangel Blades pointed at him on the neck. He must do anything the summoner wants him to do or else he won’t like it.

Given the fact that if he don’t, then he would be then stripped off of that power that allowed him to heal in the first place. CTRL + Z in an instant.

So when he opened his eyes, it was a surprise when he recognized the soul in front of him. It was surprising since as far as he knew, Cain was supposed to be a demon in hell, forever punished by his act of murdering his own brother.

...Funny that he also tried to kill his brother, only Cain succeeded. When he glanced behind him, Gabriel needed an industrial strength aspirin after he leave this place. It was Abel, but he wasn’t completely Abel. Some parts of Abel’s soul isn’t there.

And something was taken out from Abel. From the looks of it, it was centered on around his head for it Abel’s forehead was bleeding. Gabriel then knelt down and healed the wound on Abel’s head.

The wound was healed easily, given that it was only a shallow wound. Gabriel then turned back towards Cain and spoke.

_“_ Why are you here Cain and why is Abel with you? Why have you done that you brought me here and Abel from Heaven?”

Cain’s expression was indescribable.

_“_ Y-You! You aren’t Loki! Gabriel! How are you here? I would know that aura of holiness from an Archangel. And what do you meant by bringing Abel from Heaven? I would know if Abel went to Heaven if his soul wasn’t blasted to pieces by my actions!”

This... This doesn’t make any sense. Cain looking like a Japanese teenager and Abel having his souls incomplete. Not to mention the strange feeling he felt from the air around him.

As if he wasn’t in the right place.

...

He only heard it once when he was up in Heaven. It was a rumor amongst Angels and Powers that his Father created more than one world and left them alone. Since his Father decided to give his attention to a single world, everyone regarded it as the main world and ignored the others.

It would make sense that his Father would throw him into a different world. He was dying and his Father wouldn’t allow him to die if He could do something about it.

Throwing him into a different world wouldn’t break the Law of Non-interference his Father made for Himself when he left instructions to love humanity and proceeded to leave Heaven. Since he was already considered as _dead_ in that world, it wouldn’t hurt to have him _survive_ in a different world.

One where everything seemed to be different. Oh so different.

But first, he needed to know who summoned him here. He can feel the contract forming to one of the brothers in the room. His Grace seemed to be swirling around, making it difficult to pinpoint which brother made the contract with him.

Lifting up Abel and bridal carrying him, Gabriel intoned.

_“_ Let’s find somewhere to lay down Abel, Cain. And then we’ll talk. We have much to discuss.” 

* * *

Part 7

Something went wrong. The Hogwarts Quill malfunctioned when it was writing the acceptance letters. It stopped writing for an hour before it skipped a letter and resumed writing.

Professor McGonagall had to check the letter the Hogwarts Quill was writing to see if it can shed some light on the reason it malfunctioned, despite it stopped only for an hour.

The writing abruptly stopped writing when it reached the letter H in ‘Dear Mr. H-’. She checked the finished letters in the ‘Sending’ Pile and searched the last surname of the accepted student. Parvati.

Parvati. That means the student it stopped writing was a Mr. H with a surname that starts with P.

Minerva McGonagall went to the Book of Students, a book where all the students that had and will attend Hogwarts. It was connected to the Hogwarts Quill since it was responsible for the names of the students the Quill had to send a letter of acceptance.

She checked the list and saw where Parvati ended. The next name it followed was...

Potter.

This doesn’t make sense.

Preposterous.

Simply Stupidity in action.

Why would the Hogwarts Quill would stop sending the son of her favorite student an acceptance letter unless...

Unless he doesn’t qualify anymore in attending Hogwarts.

Albus had to know about this. Surely he has some sort of explanation about this.


	2. The Day Before [Redux Desu Edition]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _It’s… Internet withdrawal… A really bad case… I haven’t logged on in days…!_   
>  _\- Atsuro Kihara, self-proclaimed apprentice of **[CAIN]** , Naoya Minegishi_

Part 1

Even with the frosty and stand-offish attitude Naoya gives off to the public, he can be such a mush at times. Case in point, Naoya is and always be a fan of classical music and he can be bribed to do _anything_ as long as someone threats his collection of Dmitri Shostakovich’s orchestral works. However, Kazuya was the one and only person that went through with his threats of hiding Naoya’s favorite albums and went away scoff-free.

Atsuro did it once. It ended with him being plagued for several days of having his laptop infected with a virus. A virus that constantly forces the computer to open web videos of people eating raw vegetables.

It confused Atsuro at first but he soon discovered that despite its innocent facade, it actually deletes his works of codes. Codes that were essential in his own project of making a brand new application for the Communication Player.

Kazuya thought it was funny but he kept silent about it. It would make Atsuro feel worse if his best friend thought his ordeal was comical to him.

Still, Naoya can be vindictive at times but he hides his caring personality behind the nasty wall of his. So when Kazuya received an e-mail from his brother one day about meeting up with Atsuro and Yuzu at the front of Ichi-maru-kyu (109) in Shibuya, he jumped to the idea.

His Nii-sama, reaching out to hang out with his dear little brother and his friends, making attempts to socialize with people other than Gabe. All of those cause Kazuya to adjust his plans before coming to Shibuya.

It was already summer break and he and Atsuro had plans already to visit Akihibara that afternoon. For Atsuro’s part, he wanted to take a look at the sale of computer parts and other merchandise in Akihibara. For Kazuya’s, he wanted to visit the hidden magical shopping district in Akihibara and buy some stuff.

Abenobashi was disguised as a lowly tea shop to the public but it was a ‘portal’ to the hidden magical district of Japan. His Naoya-nii introduced him to the shopping district when he was 13, after he once complained of the heat he was suffering that summer.

Not to mention that whenever he goes, Naoya always had that _haori_ with him that Kazuya wondered if his Nii-sama ever got hot from it.

( _he’s always hot,_ a small part of his mind chirped in, _so why complain?_ )

Their parents just attributed it to a quirk their family exhibited. A family tradition of sorts, according to their father.

Takerou Minegishi always have a pendant of his childhood pet, a hamster, around his neck that he never took off. Ever. Even when they were in the public pool.

Rose Minegishi had a collection of goblin figurines in their house, which was also one reason why his Nii-sama moved out, stating he got enough of the ‘ _abominable critters that loved gold much more than leprechauns’_. Kazuya thought it was cute, their mother having a fascination with the magical equivalent of bankers in Europe.

In Asia they went with _shikigami_ , a semi-sentient construct made with magic and sustained by the ambient magic of the leylines. Contrary to popular belief, Akihibara used to be a well-used site for rituals and other offerings to the gods rather than a place for businesses and jobs. Hence the strength of the leyline in the location. But when the World Wars happened the Japanese magicians moved to different locations and built shrines away from what will become Akihibara.

It also doesn’t hurt that nowadays people attribute anything ‘ _strange_ ’ they witness to a quirk or something one would derive from _individuality_. Not to mention that business in modern times tend to become more… proactive and competitive that they resort to anything to attract their customers. _Anything._

From the commonly seen sales to the disturbing bunny costume wearing attendants of an appliance store, it would make sense that the public will disregard a simple sight of a person wearing a yukata in broad daylight.

And speaking of broad daylight, Kazuya cannot complain of his family having weird quirks when he himself seldom take off the headphones his Naoya-nii gave to him as a gift. He wore them all day and all night. Not even sleep can get him to take them off. It was comfortable to his ears and it also functions as a sound muffler, hindering unnecessary noise. Not to mention he cast on it a personal charm that allows him to listen what he wanted to listen as long as he gave a mental nudge to it.

A subjective sound charm, Kazuya called it.

The headphones cords were encased in steel casing that loops around the back. It was strong to stop the wiring from damaging itself from constant use and flexible enough that it allows ease and comfort to the user.

It’s also shaped as a pair of pointy cat ears, to which Kazuya thought a subtle jab at him from his Naoya-nii. He once called out Kazuya as a cat that constantly demands attention from him. Kazuya doesn’t mind it, in fact he _flaunts_ the cat ears most of the time after he received it, causing Naoya to regret dropping the comment.

( _cause you really_ **want** _Naoya to give you his_ **utmost** _attention,_ the small part of his mind pointed out, to which he doesn’t really reject but at the same time he doesn’t want to admit)

Kazuya planned to visit the local magical tailoring shop to check whether Amagi had new wares for sale. She makes the best clothes that have the permanent charms of preventing one from too much heat and cold and self-repairs when it gets damage. It includes the wear and tear from excessive washings and damage from accidents.

Amagi also has the idea of incorporating modern fashion designs to her works, making the charms inconspicuous to those who have no idea of magic. Besides, it looks good on her patrons as well on her.

He also wanted to pick up some bits and bobs from the magical shopping district. Mainly snacks and a new bag that is practically weightless and can hold more than what it should hold. His old bag was… old. Old enough that he should get a new one, despite his own want to recycle things.

And also get Atsuro and Yuzu trinkets that they would like. Maybe Naoya-nii as well. Since he would be meeting them as well.

* * *

 

.

He decided to travel to Akihibara before he met with Atsuro. Atsuro sent him an e-mail stating he had to some chores before he could get out. The housekeeper his parents hired decided to come that morning, one who had spent time with Nayuta and Kagun Kihara before they went to Silicon Valley for their work. As such, he was closely watched by the housekeeper, who kept on sending constant notifications to his parents.

It annoyed Atsuro whenever the housekeeper was there but he knew that she always leave at 13:00. That meant he could get out at 13:00, making their meet up time at 13:00 at the earliest.

Kazuya knew this as well, so when Atsuro sent him that e-mail he immediately told Naoya-nii and Yuzu about the new development.

Yuzu replied with a simple ‘ _okay_ ’ which was followed by a rant of ‘ _Atsuro should have known that Emiko would come that day. He told us yesterday about her schedule so I was surprised when he e-mailed me to meet up at 10:00. Stupid forgot about it, I guess._ ’

His brother, on the other hand, replied with a ‘ _k_ ’ which was also followed by ‘ _You should get prepared for a long trip.’_

Which immediately made Kazuya to smile when he read it. His Naoya-nii once told him to get prepared for a long trip, which he disregarded only to regret later when his brother took him to Osaka and spent a week there with him. His Nii-sama thankfully readied his money for the scenario he disregarded his advise by buying him extra clothes and other necessities for a long trip.

Since it was summer break and apparently his Nii-sama already told their parents about the trip to Osaka, Kazuya had to deal with all of the trouble he obviously brought to himself.

( _but you **loved** the time you spent with him; do not deny it)_

Kazuya expected another trip, probably to Kyoto or Nagoya, from Naoya so he sent Yuzu and Atsuro another e-mail about packing clothes and other things for a trip. And also leave a message to their parents/guardians about going out for an extended period of time. Both his best friends knew about the abrupt trip to Osaka so they knew what to expect from a comment of ‘ _having a long trip_ ’ from Naoya.

He also would have to buy Atsuro and Yuzu a special bag for themselves just to help them with the luggage. But Naoya would then supply them with the rest of the stuff, if push comes to shove. Which would usually happen most of the times.

A pack of 3 clothes and couple of toiletries would suffice anyway, since Naoya would purchase more for them if they have to. Or if they need to wash them at a coin laundry. Naoya will supply it. Or else.

Both his best friends were thankful for the heads-up he gave to them. So when he left their house at Shimokitazawa to Akihibara, he had a couple of yen his wallet and his essentials packed in his old special bag.

...He would trash it later after he got a new one. And maybe the new one would have an _actual_ name on it. It was tiring to refer it as a special bag and he once made the mistake of calling it a Bag of Holding. His brother just laughed at him when mentioned it and he swore he wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

( _his laughter was the best thing he ever heard, if only he would laugh more with him_ )

On the way he met Gabe, that one friend of Naoya’s who he met when he was 11. Gabriel Michael was a friend of Naoya who works as a male escort in Shinjuku. For some reason he and his brother got along and thus Kazuya as well.

_“_ Hey! Hari~ Long time no see~”

Kazuya’s reply was a kick to Gabe’s legs, only to miss when Gabe evaded it.

_“_ I told you not to call me by my first name. You knew I don’t like it.”

_“_ But where’s the fun in that? So hey, what are you doing here? Planning to go in a bar and pick up some girls? Oh how would your girlfriend react when she learned of your plans? Oh no~”

Gabe is that dramatic.

_“_ Where do you even heard I had a girlfriend? I don’t have one and do _not_ imple Yuzu is my girlfriend. I have no idea if she even wants me to be her boyfriend. I don’t even know if she even have feelings for me in the first place!”

( _you don’t even want her, you want somebody else)_

_“_ Tch. Take away all of my fun, Kazu. Take it all away. Say, you didn’t even answered my question?”

He then took out a bar of Snickers and munched on it.

_“_ I’m on my way here to Akihibara, I just felt on visiting you here. I knew that you would hang around here on your break. Not to mention, you aren’t on the job right now yet you are wearing that tacky suit of yours.”

_“_ Hey, for your information this suit is charmed by the same person you bought your favorite t-shirts. It’s comfortable and you must admit it. It not _that_ tacky. This suit has taste!”

_“_ Yeah yeah, fool yourself. Maybe that’s the reason why middle-aged women tend to pick you on your shift.”

_“_...And how did you come to know that?”

_“_...” Oops.

_“_ Unless you went to my workplace and hanged around to see me working.”

Busted. He only went there with Naoya because he had something to buy from a store in Shinjuku. It’s not his fault that he got lost and managed to find himself in the same bar Gabe worked in.

( _Naoya sought you out and it felt_ **great** )

_“_ A-Anyway, do you have any idea where would Naoya bring us this week? He e-mailed me to prepare for a long trip when he asked to meet with me and my friends.”

_“_...So its that time huh?”

_“_ Excuse me?”

_“_ Huh? Oh, its nothing. Uh… I don’t know what your brother planned for this trip of yours. If it was a secret that even I didn’t knew about, it is sure bound to be special. Then again, this is Naoya we’re talking about. Right?”

_“_...You’re right. This is Naoya we’re talking about. Go big or go home, right?”

_“_ Yup. Say, since you’re here… Mind buying me some of those snacks you bought for me last week?”

_“_...Pay me.”

_“_ Oh come on! I barely keep up with my rent this days.”

_“_ You don’t even have a place to stay! You sleep at Naoya’s place! At the couch!”

_“_...Please don’t remind me. I still have back pains from this morning.”

_“_ Then why are you even here if you have back pains?”

_“_ Well… Here’s this woman who...”

Oh brother, it would take an hour before Gabe would finish his story. Kazuya had to get to Akihibara soon or else he would be late for the meet up.

_“_ Fine. Fine. I’ll get you three boxes of Pocky. And Chocolate Angels. Sheesh. You better pay me when I come here later.”

There a bootleg shop of sweets and candies at Akihibara that sells at very _very_ **very low prices**. Surprisingly, it was available only to magicians by the seller. He won’t complain about it. There’s bound to be a black market for every type of merchandise.

Kazuya wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a black market for baby teeth of celebrities.

_“_ Really? Thanks a lot!”

_“_ Bye Gabe. If you see Naoya tell him he should ready his wallet as well!”

Kazuya left Shinjuku to Akihibara while Gabriel watched him walked towards the train station.

_“_ _Spero vincere, Abel,”_ Gabriel muttered as he walked back towards the alleyways of Shinjuku.

* * *

.

It was nuts. Pure mayhem. Thankfully he had extra yen to spare for Atsuro’s stuff. He e-mailed Kazuya if he could buy the stuff he needs because Emiko fell down from the stairs and he had to bring her to the hospital. Needless to say, Atsuro could get out of the house earlier than he expected but he will miss the sale he wanted to join in.

Emiko was vehement on going to a certain hospital she only knew of. Atsuro, the only person who was with her, could only nod and call the ambulance of the said hospital. It was outside the Yamanote Circle so it would take him a bit of time traveling back and forth.

As such, Kazuya had to endure the woes of being a customer in a sale. A sale where people were rabid to get the latest computer parts and drivers. He had an idea of the computer parts Atsuro sent him to buy but he didn’t knew the rave of its availability.

It was a limited edition, only 100 of it are available and never will be sold in the future. He doesn’t get it but for Atsuro wanted it for months.

Atsuro was talking about it for the past few weeks when they were having lunch in school. Even Yuzu got an idea on what the driver was for with the number of times he kept on talking about it. A miracle for Yuzu can understand a little of Atsuro’s technical jargon and she must be repeatedly reminded of several functions of her COMP when she got herself one.

Only for her to break it the week after. Atsuro couldn’t find the method Yuzu did to completely trash the COMP. Even the programming in it was completely destroyed.

Still, the sale was chaotic. He got the 8th to the last driver from the attendant and paid it with cold hard cash. He bolted immediately out from the store and rushed towards Abenobashi, which was a few blocks away from the store he just came from.

Strangely enough, the driver came with a free manual charger for a COMP. Given that the Communication Player [COMP] is a very useful gadget, combining a game system with the functions of a cellular phone, it makes sense that there would be a manual charger made for it. It was a common problem to COMP users to get their COMP’s battery empty, with the huge amount of electricity it consumes for its games and telecommunication systems.

Add the fact that the COMP can get a signal even in places one’s cellular phone cannot get one, having a charger for one’s COMP is essential. It is literally a necessity for a COMP user. Especially when in places where electricity is rare.

Kazuya wasn’t complaining though, as he went through the sliding screens leading to the magical shopping district in Akihibara. First things first, he must get his money for the things he will be buying.

After his Nii-sama formally taught him magic, he brought his little brother to the local magic bank to create an account for Kazuya. Although magic’s existence in Japan is vague as a mist, the magical counterpart of Japan’s government adhere to the international rules and regulations of all magicians. That is keeping the existence of magic worldwide as a secret.

To which his Naoya-nii gave an indifferent comment:

_“_ _Magic was given to people as a way to ease the burden of their work. Although it **is** human nature to be afraid of something new, our ancestors decided to counter the existence of magic with persecution and death. Thus making magic a secret to the rest of the world, only available to few and to those who are to upheld the laws of secrecy._ ”

Kazuya somewhat agreed to his Naoya-nii’s point of view on the subject of the International Statute of Secrecy. It was a good thing that in countries that had a major background with ‘magic’, like Greece and Japan where their history and religion were closely intertwined with ‘magic’, it is looser than the other countries. For example, countries that had creation myths, Izanami and Izanagi for Japan and the Olympians for Greece, and how things works around them, Amaterasu and Apollo for the existence of the sun, respectively, that had the idea of magic ingrained deep in its words.

These countries are given a bit of a leeway or an allowance in implementing the Statute of Secrecy, since they can invoke the Rite of Territorial Autonomy Clause in the Statute. Since their country was already deeply entrenched in magic, immediate obliviation of memories are subject to degree of importance. Their country already have a history of using some sort of ‘magic’ in front of the mundanes, Shintoism and the ever famous Oracle of Delphi, which even have its own website [delphioracle(dot)net], that it was **_expected_** to have them in public.

However, it was stated in the Statute that they hide also from the mundanes. Thus creating a different and autonomous ‘country’, existing alongside the mundane society. Which then includes the implementation of their own currency and culture.

His brother evidently prepared to open an account for his little brother, readied a couple of yen to be exchanged into the necessary currency used in the magical shopping district, only to find out that there was already an account attached to the magical signature of Kazuya.

It wasn’t a problem for Naoya to get access to his little brother’s account, which was strangely under his first name before adoption, since he was the magical guardian of Kazuya. Magic itself proved to be the victor against the seals placed on the account.

Kazuya only stood in wonder as his Nii-sama laughed after he got his account unlocked and ready for buying magical merchandise.

Which brought back Kazuya to the bank for the 5th time that year. He seldom come to the magical shopping district, only to buy some of the snacks in bulk and get some clothes from Amagi no Kimono. He also bought a couple of books and tomes from the shopping district, only to find it lacking. His brother’s teachings were much better and easier to understand than the stuff they wrote on it.

Not to mention his brother taught him in a manner tailored to their modern life. Magic was only to be used as a tool, a means to get by, not a way of life. Japan might have learned their lesson when the majority of the magical communities in it got blasted by the atomic bombs, just because they ignored the idea of science and technology matching to their wards and barriers, but there’s still a large faction in the country with superiority ingrained in their minds.

It is also a reason why his Naoya-nii decided to have no ties with the Japanese Magical Community and be an outcast. To which Kazuya wholeheartedly followed.

That doesn’t mean he won’t use it. Kazuya would use magic when he wants to or the situation requires him. Its just that he won’t rely much on it.

After he withdrew a decent amount of what was the magical equivalent of yen, he went with a shopping spree with the money he had. He first have to get the bags. It would be stupid of him, walking around with a huge pile of stuff in his hands when he could stow them away in a magic bag.

* * *

Part 2

Given that her mother just got divorced a year ago, Yuzu couldn’t blame her mother from being depressed most of the time. What annoys her though was that she wouldn’t make any effort on getting over their father, who went with another woman and apparently had already a child before he divorced with her mother.

So when Kazuya e-mailed her about having a potential trip outside the city with Atsuro and his brother/cousin Naoya, she jumped on the idea. Yuzu would get mad if she had to stay with her mother in that house.

But just to make sure her mother got the message right, she prepared a long letter detailing her out of the city trip with her friends and an adult for a week at most. She’s 17, she can take care of herself. And with Kazu’s brother/cousin with them, they would have an adult with them at most of the times.

After she packed a duffle bag with couple of clothes and a small pouch of toiletries in it, she made her way out of their house. Her mother, smashed on the sofa with cans of beer around her, was fast asleep. She already prepared a meal for her, stored at the refrigerator for her mother to eat when she woke up and got hungry. The letter she wrote was stuck at the refrigerator’s door with magnets for her to see and read.

And if she somehow missed it, which would probably come true, she made several copies and placed at places her mother would see. One at her room, one at her room and the rest scattered around the house.

Yuzu took the train and made her way to Ichi-maru-kyu, where Kazu and Atsuro would be waiting for her. As she walked through Miyashita Park, she met Naoya who had a sling bag with him. It looked out of place for the tall man, especially because the bag was pink and he had a dark green _haori_ on him.

_“_ Hmm.. Oh its you Tanikawa,” Naoya greeted her. Yuzu replied with a simple bow and a greeting.

_“_ Good afternoon, Minegishi-san.” She haven’t spent time with Kazu’s brother/cousin so it would make sense she would be polite with him and all.

_“_ Please, call me Naoya. You’re friends with my brother, after all he considers you and Atsuro practically as family. So please, address me as a close friend.”

Well, she couldn’t find any fault on that. Kazu stuck with her ever since she had the chance to be his seatmate in Junior High. He used to be so distraught at that time, because he just lost his other best friend to a different Junior High. Yuzu made it her personal mission to cheer up his classmate at that time, which then evolved into a very close friendship.

...A friendship she wanted to be more than it was now. But it would a matter for another time. She had all the time of the world to build on it, when she decided to step up her game. For now, Kazu wasn’t interested in relationships, which both pleased and annoyed her at the same time.

_“_ S-Sure then, Naoya.” And was that weird? Calling an older persona informally just because you are friends with his brother/cousin. Despite them being cousins, they treat each other as brothers. The saying ‘brothers in all but blood’ can’t apply to them because they are related through their aunts.

_“_ Anyway, would you be kind and give these to your friends. Something came up and I can’t let it stand by. I’m sorry but I may have to skip out on the trip,” Naoya said as he handed the pink bag to Yuzu.

Yuzu was quite miffed by the recent turn of events, mainly because the trip she prepared for was canceled indefinitely and secondarily she used as a pack mule.

Kazu wasn’t really lying when he said his brother can be a prick at times.

With a sigh, she accepted the bag from Naoya. “Is it a bad thing that I already packed for the trip? I already have my bag here with me.” She pointed to the small bag she carried on her back. “Kazu and Atsuro would be so disappointed about it.”

_“_ Don’t worry. The trip may resume later in the evening if I finish the emergency fast enough.”

_“_ Okay,” Yuzu said. She was hoping it would happen but there’s a saying about it. Keep you hopes high while your expectations low. She hopes but she wouldn’t expect much from it.

_“_ What is inside the bag though? It’s _quite_ heavy.”

_“_ COMPs.”

_“_ COMPs? Well, if this is a way to ask for us to forgive you from skipping out the trip, you sure did a great job.” Which was true, COMPs nowadays were expensive, only rivaling a brand new phone in price by a few hundred yen.

_“_ Just give it to them. You three will need it later.”

Sure they will. Next thing they will knew it was actually a pass for a concert.

_“_ If you say so, well I think I must be going now. Kazu and Atsuro must be waiting for me at the Crossing.”

_“_ I will be going as well. Send my brother my regards.”

_“_ Sure thing.”

And with that, Naoya walked away with one bag lesser on his person and Yuzu had a bag added to her collection.

It was heavy and it will be quite a pain to carry to the Crossing. The COMPs were light individually but when grouped together, they are heavy as an encyclopedia.

This better be worth it in the end.

* * *

.

_“_ Yoohoo! Sodeko~”

Instead of greeting the cap wearing teenager, she pinched his cheeks instead. Hard.

_“_ Ow ow ow.”

_“_ Will you keep on calling me Yoohoo then? Will you keep calling me Sodeko then?” Yuzu asked with a serene smile on her face.

If she get pissed off from Atsuro’s words of _endearment_ , she would use her duffel bag and smack the stars out Atsuro. He occasionally have stars in his eyes so maybe she could force those to be free from Atsuro.

_“_ Will you two cut it out?”

And there goes Kazu, the mediator of the group. H used to be the one she watched on in Junior High but when the three of them met together, _he_ became the watcher. All because Atsuro manages to get on her nerves.

Oh she adore Atsuro but sometime she gets the feeling to kick him until he can’t walk anymore just because he’s _that **annoying**_.

_“_ He keeps on calling me names. Even the teachers thought it _was_ my real name. All thanks to Otakuro here,” Yuzu said as she pointed the teen with red cheeks.

_“_ Where’s Naoya? You just said a while ago you met him.”

_“_ Oh, he had to go somewhere. An emergency, which means the trip is officially postponed.”

A groan can be heard behind her. Atsuro seemed to be groaning in the paper bag he stuffed his face with. Disbelief can be seen on his face when he came up for air.

_“_ Wait, you said postponed. Not cancelled. Why?” Kazu asked her. Kazu caught her choice of words then.

_“_ If he could finish the emergency as soon as possible, he would resume his plans for the trip,” Yuzu replied with a smirk. She really wanted to be surprised on what place Kazu’s brother picked for the surprise trip.

Kazu enthusiastically told them his experience on his Ambush Get-away last year. She and Atsuro wanted to have that experience as well.

_“_ Hm… Hey, Yuzu. What do you got there? Looks bulky,” the green-eyed teenager spoke, since he saw the pink sling bag the redhead was carrying.

_“_ Oh these? These are what Naoya send me to give to you guys. Dibs on the pink.”

_“_ Pink? ...Oh! Nii-sama gave you these? For us? Wow!”

Seeing Kazu’s shocked face, Yuzu continued. “Yeah, it was a pain to carry all the way from Miyashita Park. Did you know that these COMPs are way heavier when grouped together?”

_“_ Really? Hey Atsuro! Take a look at these! Naoya-nii sent Yuzu these with her!” Kazu took the white colored COMP and gave Atsuro the blue colored one as Asturo made his way to the group.

_“_ This was supposed to be my perfect summer camp under Naoya. So let’s hope he gets that emergency solved soon,” the cap wearing teen said before starting up the COMP he was given with. “Huh. The programming is different. Did Naoya homebrew this?”

Yuzu took the COMP she claimed to herself and adjusted the pink sling bag around her. Naoya must have thought of giving her the sling bag along with the COMP as a gift. Or payment for the parcel she brought along from Miyashita Park.

_“_ What do you meant by homebrew? He made it by himself?” she asked. Homebrew was term she learned after she decided to make her own caffè latte. It didn’t end well for her.

_“_ Yeah. Well that’s Naoya for you. He isn’t the best programmer for nothing. Well the _only_ best programmer I knew of,” Atsuro trailed off as he hooked the COMP to his laptop. “My own COMP back at my house is nothing compared to this one Naoya made. And here I thought I could surprise him by making an application for COMP.”

_“_ Atsuro, this is my brother we’re talking here. He’s full of surprises. What else can you find from the COMP he gave to us?” Kazu said. Kazuya was currently checking out the applications of the COMP Naoya gave to him. “Oh. It seemed to be better than the COMPs out in public.”

_“_ Yeah, even its RAM are bigger than the commercial ones. Even the drivers are not what I’m familiar with. Naoya really gave it all for these.”

Okay, Yuzu was confused. And Atsuro was typing something on his laptop while it was connected to the COMP. “Umm… Kazu? Atsuro? What are you two talking about?”

_“_ Huh. Oh. It’s these COMPs. They _are_ much better than the commercial one being sold in public. They are much faster and… Yep. They’re much better in the energy saving department as well.”

_“_ So what you’re saying is...”

_“_ Don’t buy a COMP anymore and take what Naoya-nii gave you. It’s _better_.”

Yuzu pointed to Atsuro. “Then what is Atsuro is doing?”

The green-eyed teen answered without even making glance at the other teen. “He’s opening the system files Naoya made in the COMPs.”

_“_ Isn’t that a bad idea?”

_“_ Nope, the two of them always do these back at Junior High School. The moment Atsuro discovered Naoya-nii was his online friend in the internet, he begged Naoya-nii to teach him in his… specializations. That is programming.”

_“_ Uhuh… Get to the point.”

_“_ Sheesh, can’t you wait? I’m getting there. The thing is… Naoya-nii made these codes for Atsuro to break into. It’s like a greeting for them whenever one gives a gadget or something over the internet. Something they programmers can get along with, right?” Kazu paused, thinking something and continued. “It’s like this. Instead of Atsuro greeting you with calling your name, he calls you with a nickname. And you counter it with a nickname as well. You get it?”

_“…_ Why can’t they just say hi like any normal person?”

_“_ You forgot that Naoya-nii and Atsuro aren’t normal people.”

Yuzu ignored the last statement and gestured towards Atsuro. Atsuro, at that moment, looked up and called the two of them to him. “Guys, give me your COMPs for a moment. I think I unlocked a new function of the COMPs.”

Kazuya and Yuzu gave Atsuro the COMPs they claimed to Atsuro and a moment later it was returned to them.

_“_ Hm… Oh! There was a messaging application installed already here?” Kazu exclaimed. “So that’s what Naoya-nii hid for you to find out.”

_“_ Hehe. There’s more for me to find out. I’m gonna move to the park and try to crack it. You guys go around for a while. I’m pretty sure Naoya will e-mail us if he ever finished that emergency of his.”

_“_ What about you? You okay with us leaving for a while?”

_“_ Its okay. I want to find out all of the secrets he hid for me before we meet with him. He challenged me last time if I can crack the codes with 30 minutes or less.”

_“_...I’ll bring you a soda when we came back.”

_“_ Thanks. Now go, go find somewhere to entertain Yuzu. She seemed to be restless from here. Yuzu needs to cool down before she explodes!”

_“_ I heard that Atsuro!”

_“_ Let’s go Yuzu, Atsuro’s ‘ _challenge_ ’ will take a while. Let’s go to Shinjuku. We have time to spare anyway so let me introduce you to Gabe.”

Atsuro then called out at the same time the COMPs chimed. They received an e-mail.

Strange since they haven’t registered anyone to the COMPs.

_“_ Check out the e-mail first! Something arrived through the e-mail.”

* * *

**From:** The Observer

**Subject:** Laplace Mail

Good Morning. Here is today’s NEWS.

  1. At around 16:00, a man will be killed in a Shibuya-ku Aoyama apartment. The wounds on the corpse are consistent with an attack by a large carnivorous beast.
  2. A large explosion will occur in Minato-ku Aoyama at 19:00. The cause is unknown.
  3. At 21:00, a blackout will affect the entire Tokyo metropolitan area.



Have a nice day.

* * *

.

_“_ At around 16:00 in Shibuya-ku Aoyama, a man... will be killed?! He'll be attacked by some carnivorous beast...?! What kind of news is this? That's so creepy...”

_“_ The text is strange,” Kazuya pointed out.

_“_ That’s not the point!”

_“_ What do you meant it’s not the point? I mean, look at the tense of the verbs. They are in future tense, meaning it was supposed to happen,” Kazuya reasoned out.

_“_ Only you could find a fault in it when the entire e-mail talks about somebody being killed.”

_“_ Yuzu, its written in future tense. I’m sure someone just sent us a chain message or something. What about you Atsuro? Any ideas?”

Atsuro looked up from his COMP and said, “You’re probably right. It said it’s today’s news… But none of this has happened today.”

_“_ I bet Naoya knew you would tinker with the COMPs and prepared a trick for us. See? It just spooked us out.”

Kazuya then joined in. “You guys should also remember that Naoya-nii had an apartment in Aoyama. Why would he write something that could imply him being caught in an accident or worse being killed?”

_“_ Hmm… I can’t figure it out from just this. I’ll try to look into the rest of the files.”

_“_ Okay, Atsuro. You do that. Yuzu and I will be going to Shinjuku and maybe visit Nii-sama at Aoyama. Just to check up on him.”

* * *

.

_“_ -through the power of the internet, we will overcome the ordeal God has given to us!”

A cult was making a ruckus by the time they made their way to Shinjuku. People were stopping by to see what the cult was spreading and moved on after hearing what spiel they prepared for the masses.

Yuzu was quite intrigued by the cult’s vision though. Using the internet to connect people around the world. It sounds so similar to the campaign motto of the COMPs, “ _Play with people around the world!_ ”

Kazuya was talking to man at the corner of the street they entered. He left afterwards and Kazuya went back to Kazu.

_“_ I gave Gabe his treats but he had to leave. He just went out when he received the e-mail I sent to him so he had to get back to his job. Too bad I couldn’t introduce you two formally.” Kazy was genuinely saddened by the situation.

_“_ It’s okay. Besides, he may have considered it wasn’t the best place and time to do the introductions. Especially with the cult here.” Yuzu then gestured to the crowd of orange wearing people. She couldn’t identify if they were wearing a jacket, a parka, a hoodie, a robe, or a combination of the four.

_“_ Probably. They are the Shomonkai. Naoya-nii had some dealings with them these past years but nothing too serious. Good thing Nii-sama stopped contacting them last week.”

_“_ How come you knew about that?”

_“_ Well, I was at his apartment last week and he was talking someone on the phone. To me it sounded like he was quitting a job. He mentioned Shomonkai and I quote ‘ _at least wear something not orange, you guys look like that one ninja on television_ ’.”

_“_ Now that you said it, they look like cosplaying to me.”

Kazuya laughed at the horrible joke. Yuzu laughed as well, since it also seemed to be funny to her.

_“_ Anyway, Atsuro e-mailed me a moment ago that he’s still in the middle of decoding the encrypted files on his COMP. Maybe we should go somewhere else?”

_“_ Yeah, let’s go. Hmm.. let’s go to Omotesando!”

“-we’ll be in Tokyo for the next three days-” “Sure.”

* * *

.

_“_ You used to go to Harajuku when classes end back at Junior High, right Yuzu?”

Yuzu turned back to Kazuya from her position. She was admiring at a displayed dress at one of the stores in Omotesando. Kazuya was looking at the cars rushing down the road.

_“_ Yep. But I always wanted to fit in at Omotesando.”

_“_ Huh. You would fit in, in my opinion.”

_“_ No way, really?!”

_“_ Yes way, Omotesando for me is quite mature while Harajuku is something that would fit right in a Hello Kitty poster. Look at what you are wearing now, Yuzu.”

_“_ Huh?” Yuzu looked down on her clothes as Kazuya pointed to it.

_“_ You aren’t wearing something that would fit right in a Hello Kitty poster, right?”

_“_ Of course not!”

_“_ There’s your answer then!” Kazuya finished with a smirk on his face.

Yuzu then realized she was played by her best friend. “You could have said I would fit in without the unnecessary things.”

_“_ And where’s the fun in that?” Kazu’s smirk seemed to grow even larger.

_“_ I swear that’s your reason to the number of pranks you kept on doing from Junior High up to now.”

_“_ You should search the internet who’s my patron god is and you would know why I always do pranks.”

Yuzu paused for a moment and tried to recall who Kazuya was referring to.

_“_ L-Loki? Was it Loki?”

Before Kazuya can answer, three police cars ran down the road towards the direction of Aoyama Residential Buildings.

_“_ H-Hey, Kazu. What time is it?” She adjusted the sling bag on her shoulder as she tries to shake off her fear. Yuzu had an idea on what the police cars are for.

_“_ 16:30. You think that was?”

_“_ Yes. There’s no way it could be true, right?”

Yuzu’s question was answered by silence. She couldn’t stand it. Good thing Kazuya spoke what she as about to say.

_“_ Let’s go to Naoya’s apartment. Just to be sure.” Yuzu agreed and the two of them ran towards the Apartment Buildings with Kazuya leading the way.

By the time they arrived there, policemen were already laying down police lines around the entire apartment buildings. And Naoya was there at the front of the building, looking quite perplexed by the events.

Kazuya took a lunge at Naoya and gave him a hug. Yuzu had to hid her laughter as Naoya had the strangest expression when he registered the body clinging at him.

_“_ I’m glad you’re safe. We were worried!” Kazuya said while his face was still at the back of Naoya.

_“_ Th-That’s right! We thought something might have happened to you, Naoya! The e-mail we received said something about a man being attacked by a beast. We thought it could be you!”

_“_ I see… You’re right… Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

_“_ You better meant it or I’m gonna kick you so hard you’ll be using a crutch for the entire week!” Kazuya chirped in as he removed himself from Naoya and moved back beside Yuzu.

He then continued, “So what happened here? Did something really happened or it was just a coincidence?”

Naoya answered quickly, “No, the person who lived next door to me was eaten. His corpse is still at the room.”

_“_ He was eaten… No way?! The e-mail really came true? But we got the e-mail before it all happened!” Yuzu exclaimed.

_“_ It’s telling the future, Yuzu. Remember what I said about it written in future tense.”

_“_...Your thought process never ceases to amaze me. Usually, one would suspect the one who allowed a said prediction to arrive would be the murderer.”

_“_ Please, you couldn’t be the one who sent the e-mail, even though you wrote the program of the homebre COMPs, Naoya-nii. For starters, the sender was called as The Observer. I entered your personal COMP ID and it didn’t registered as The Observer and The Observer had no COMP ID registered in it.”

_“_ So you did noticed it.”

_“_ Of course I did. The Observer is practically a bot. Which meant the entire e-mail was an automated e-mail instead of it being written word by word.”

_“_ Uhh… Kazu. What did you meant by the sender of the e-mail was a bot?”

_“_ Tanikawa, what Kazu was referring to was the one who sent the e-mail. It would be akin to a system notification of a phone, stating you ran out of credits or you received an e-mail detailing about how your internet service expired.”

So that’s what Kazu was talking about. The sender wasn’t even a person, it was a computer!

_“_ Anyway, I understand why the two of you came here. But, our meeting here is an accident. We shouldn’t be talking like this.”

_“_ Of course we shouldn’t. The policemen are looking at us with funny looks, we should move from here. How about to Shibuya?” Kazuya interjected. “Atsuro is currently cracking the COMP’s system files at Miyashita Park so you could go with us to him.”

Yuzu’s phone then rang and she answered it. It was Atsuro.

_“_ Yo! Yuzu! I think I knew how to crack the COMPs! Meet me in front of the Electric Museum in Shibuya!”

_“_ Hey! Don’t forget our bags! Also, we have Naoya here with us so maybe he could explain it all to you later.”

_“_ Cool! Anyway, bring your COMPs! And the bags! They’re all here with me, I’ll bring it with me!”

Atsuro then ended the call.

_“_ Hey Kazu! Naoya! Atsuro just called. He wanted to meet us up at the Electric Museum. He said something about cracking the COMPs.”

_“_ Hm… You two go ahead. I have to take some of my belongings up stairs.”

The teen with headphones frowned and said, “Okay, fine. We’ll wait for you at the Electric Museum. Be fast, okay? The policemen are still around here and I don’t want you to get arrested just because you look and act suspicious.”

_“_ Thanks for the advise Kazuya, in fact I have an advise for the three of you. Do not turn away from what is about to happen soon. Do not be afraid to stand up against it.”

Now even Yuzu got annoyed at Kazu’s brother. “Of course we won’t turn away from the idea of spending a week outside Tokyo!”

_“_ Suit yourselves. Now go. Shoo.”

_“_ Let’s go Yuzu, Atsuro is waiting for us,” her best friend said. He then turned back and shouted, “You better be there or I’ll come back and definitely kick you.”

* * *

Part 3

Atsuro was sitting on a bench as he waited for his two best friends to come. The encryption Naoya made on the COMP’s system files were unique, making it quite a challenge for the budding programmer. As such, he was deep in thought when Yuzu and Kazuya arrived.

Without his mentor with them.

_“_ Naoya had to take some stuff of his at his apartment before meeting up with us… So what is with the COMPs? Found something?” Kazu spoke as we immediately went to the pile of bags beside him.

Atsuro had to stand up and stretch his legs. “You two really came from Aoyama huh?” He prepared the USB cords for the COMPs and laid them down beside him on the bench. “So what happened there? I heard police car sirens from the phone.”

_“_ Atsuro, there… the e-mail came true. Naoya’s neighbor was… eaten.” Yuzu replied. “It really did predict the future.”

Kazuya handed Atsuro an opened soda can as he handed over the white COMP to the teen. “Are you sure you didn’t fall for one of Naoya’s pranks? There’s no way an e-mail can predict the future.”

_“_ Naoya wouldn’t go for something as low as this just to prank us, Atsuro. There are police men at Aoyama, invalidating the assumption Naoya’s the one who killed the man,” Kazu said. “And besides, he didn’t sent the e-mail. It was a bot.”

_“_ A bot? That… makes sense. So Naoya had no idea who or were this _‘The Observer_ ’ came from? Oh, Yuzu, your COMP please.” Yuzu handed her COMP as well. “Thank you. Then that e-mail wasn’t a warning then. I’m pretty sure its just coincidence that something that was written in an e-mail happened as well in reality. Unless someone _really did_ predict the future.”

_“_ There’s more in the e-mail. An explosion followed by a city-wide blackout. If those will happen later...” Kazu shook his head.

_“_ If it was really predicting the future… It would be off if those didn’t happen. Still, they seem pretty unlikely.”

_“_ What?! But the attack at Aoyama?” Yuzu cried out as she rummaged through her duffel bag and pulled out a towel to wipe away her sweat. “It’s almost duskfall and the explosion may happen later!”

_“_ As I said, it seems to be pretty unlikely. Anyway, maybe the encrypted files in the COMPs can shed some light on it. I think I can crack it but I need your COMPs as well.”

_“_ Why?” Kazu asked as he pulled out a bottle of water and drank from it. “Was there a condition on cracking those files?”

_“_ Yep, you see the COMPs has this always on wireless feature that constantly streams out data through the airwaves. Our COMPs have this thing where they keep track of one another, acting as one single folder divided into three COMPs.”

_“_ Ah. So its like a bluetooth headphones. The COMPs must be within a certain range before they can exchange data with one another,” Kazu spoke. He also handed Yuzu a box of Pocky.

_“_ Thanks Kazu. You spared me from the headache.” Yuzu said.

_“_ Gee, thanks for the support Yoohoo!” “Hey!” “Anyway, here. Turn on your COMPs while I crack mine. It will automatically open when I cracked mine.”

Atsuro then stowed away his laptop and other cords after he used them into his laptop bag. “Is it on guys? I’m starting it up.”

He then started the encryption software he made on his COMP and a series of text flew by on the screen before it restarted.

_“_ Huh. Nothing newm” Kazu said as his COMP started up. “Wait. What is this feeling? A Bounded Field?”

_“_ What did you said Kazu?” Yuzu spoke as she tinkered with her own COMP. Atsuro was curious as well about his best friend’s comment.

_“_ Something felt wrong. Wait, where are the people? They were people here a while ago.”

The entire street was empty. Even the nearby _konbini_ was empty, even with the lights and all the refrigerators in it are running.

_“_ Now that you said it, people stopped coming here a few minutes ago. I thought it was normal,” Atsuro said. “Is it not normal?”

_“_ It isn’t normal, Atsuro. This is the Electric Museum in Shibuya. We’re in a street were people are _supposed_ to pass by,” Yuzu remarked.

_“_...I think I saw Naoya across the street but he wasn’t there. My eyes seem to play tricks on me. And...” Kazu stopped. “The COMP restarted, again.”

_“_ Huh.”

Kazu was right. The COMP restarted again and another set of text flew by the screen.

**[Decryption confirmed.]**

**[Booting program.]**

**[Condition: green]**

**[DEMON SUMMONING PROGRAM ready to boot.]**

**[Booting DEMON SUMMONING PROGRAM…]**

_“_ W-What? What is this Atsuro?!” Yuzu screamed as she tried to shake off the COMP of her hand. The COMP seemed to be attached to her hand while her feet was stuck on the floor.

_“_ Th-This is magic! What the-?!”

**[Peaceful days have died.]**

**[Let’s SURVIVE.]**

The COMPs flashed a bright light and something appeared in front of them. Their feet, now unstuck from the ground, scrambled them away from the distortion.

A floating cat monster, a bipedal dog monster and a fairy about the size of a stuffed teddy bear appeared from the distortion in the air.

_“_ M-Monsters came out?!” “What the?!”

Atsuro was stunned by the turn of events. His mind can comprehend the situation until the winged fairy spoke.

_“_ So this is the human world? Hmm… Then these humans must have been the ones that summoned me. Part of the contract demands something in return. But you don’t have an offering for me~”

The three of them were silent as the fairy continued.

_“_ I guess I’ll have to kill you then, your deaths would be enough to make the contract permanent. For me, that is~”

Then the fairy flew in and tried to tackle Yuzu but a transparent barrier appeared in front of her, causing the winged fairy to hit the invisible wall.

_“_ What the… A human with magic? This is interesting~”

_“_ Yuzu, Atsuro let’s move away from the street! The monsters will be rushing at us, we must lead them away from others.”

He and Yuzu could only follow Kazu’s words as they ran towards the other side of the street. The cat and dog monsters were striking the invisible wall a few meters away from them with hits and ‘magic’.

Magic in a way the cat monster seemed to be causing fire to burst out of thin air and lightning strikes to hit from thunderclouds that also appeared out of thin air.

_“_ What is with them? They aren’t the creatures I read in books and- Ooof!”

Kazu seemed to hit an invisible wall as well. Yuzu felt the wall his best friend has stumbled upon and exclaimed, “Something is here! We can’t run!”

_“_ T-Then we’re trapped!”

_“_ I won’t let myself die in here! I’m gonna fight!” His best friend voiced out as he waved his hand and a series of thunderclouds appeared, striking the three monsters with lightning.

The monsters screamed in pain but it didn’t stopped the bipedal dog to rush Kazu with the wooden club it had at the instant Kazu stopped the lightning strikes. Kazu must have been the one responsible for the invisible walls because the moment Kazu got stunned, the cat monster and the winged fairy entered the fray.

Atsuro had to guard himself while Yuzu also tried to block the winged fairy’s tackle. He expected the attack to hurt much but it didn’t.

The winged fairy expressed her confusion as well. “W-Wow! You’re pretty tough… for a human, anyway~”

_“_ Wh-What the?! That should have hurt me way more than it did!” Atsuro exclaimed.

_“_ This is weird. Human are supposed to be soft and chewy. Not hard!” The cat monster spoke, as it released another type of magic that made wind to swirl around him and caused him to feel pain. As if the wind was a physical attack on him.

_“_ Yuzu! Atsuro! Fight back!” Kazu stood up as he evaded an attack from the bipedal dog. “Look at the COMPs, something came up when those arrived.”

Atsuro took a look at the COMP he was clutching with his hand, surprised to see it received no damage from the stray hits of the cat monster. “It-It shows information on the monsters! The one I’m facing is called a Kabuso!”

_“_ Mine is a Pixie!” Yuzu shouted as she ducked to miss a fire burst from hitting her. “And it has a number here. A 7 over 30?! What is this?”

_“_...Aha! It’s an HP bar!”

_“_ A what?!” Yuzu got enough of the Pixie and punched it in the face after it missed tackling her. The Pixie was dazed and disappeared after it shattered to particles. “Oh! I think I got what you meant Atsuro!”

Seeing Yuzu defeating her opponent, Atsuro aimed to punch the Kabuso in front of him. In the same manner Yuzu did, he waited for the Kabuso to miss its attack and strike. He evaded the swirling green wind, now recognizing it as an attack from the Kabuso, and sucker punched the cat.

It shattered to particles after the punch connected.

Atsuro then looked back to where Kazu was and he witnessed Kazu released a series of purple balls to the bipedal dog monster. It also shattered to particles after the barrage of purple balls.

_“_ And stay down you rabid mutt!” His best friend then sank down on the ground. “Wow. I never thought I would have to use that attack. But that Kobold was stronger than the Kabuso and Pixie.”

The trees and the ground on their area of the park was wrecked, to say the least. Burned out patches of grass and barks of wood. There’s even a crater where the club of the Kobold missed. There was even a small flame igniting at one patch of grass, only to be snuffed out by the wind later.

He then remembered seeing a number beside the name of the monster on his COMP. “What number did the Kobold have on your COMP?”

_“_...14.”

Atsuro released a choke. “Mine was only 3. I doubt Yuzu saw what number hers was but I would guess it was the same as mine.”

_“_ Kazu! Atsuro! You guys are fine?” Yuzu shouted as she ran towards them.

Her clothes were a bit singed and ruffled but at the very least she was okay.

_“_ We’re fine Yuzu. You?”

_“_ I think I’m okay. But I want to know what in the world were those monsters?!”

Kazu released a cough. “How about we go back to the bags? The Bounded Field is still up so there would be privacy at least.”

_“_ Huh?”

_“_ I should have recognized the Bounded Field’s purpose. It redirects everyone except us three to stay away from the area. Come on. Let’s go.” Kazu stood up and gestured towards the street.

* * *

.

_“_ So to summarize things, you are a magician. Just like in those fictional stories? Magic is real?”

_“_ If what happened earlier wasn’t proof, then I think nothing will.”

_“_ Sorry, sorry. It’s just that… It’s surprising.”

_“_ But not that surprising when those _demons_ appeared.”

_“_ Yeah… I guess the _Demon Summoning Program_ really justifies its name.”

_“_ How come you two are calm about this? _Demons_ appeared out of no where and just attacked us!”

_“_ Yuzu, calm down. Didn’t we just talked about this a while ago? Atsuro read the new files that got unlocked after the battle. It only happened once, only when the _Demon Summoning Program_ starts up for the first time.”

He got to hand it over to Kazuya. Kazu is calm and collected as ever. Maybe because he had to deal with Naoya ever since he was little. Or maybe because he had a background on supernatural things for years.

_“_ Run it with me again. My nerves are still rattled and the drinks you gave to me can only calm me down for a while.”

_“_ Here, have some Melon Bread. There’s more where it came from.”

_“_ I still can’t believe magic exists, especially when its that useful. That storage bag you have there can store more than it should. You practically hid away all of our bags in it.” He was impressed to see magic in action. But he has to more serious stuff to discuss. “Anyway, the encrypted files started up a series of programs in our COMPs.”

_“_ The first is the _Demon Summoning Program._ You have three tries to guess what it does and the first two doesn’t count.”

Kazu and Yuzu gave him a look and rolled their eyes.

_“_ Okay, okay. The second one is the _Harmonizer._ I don’t really understand much of the mechanics of the _Harmonizer_ but it uses the radio waves our COMPs to ‘sync’ our ‘wavelengths’ with the demons, making us stand on equal ground with them.”

Kazu then added his own comment. “Since they are _demons_ , our attacks are supposed to be useless against them. But with the _Harmonizer_ , our attacks get to be on their level that they can be affected. It also affects their attacks by weakening it to a level we could tolerate. However it doesn’t mean it will be that weak, since I got myself hurt by the club strike of that Kobold.”

_“_ But how is that possible? And how could these _demons be_ here in the first place?” Yuzu asked.

_“_ Its all because of the _Demon Summoning Program_. I guess Naoya made this program,” Atsuro replied. “He is a genius programmer after all, and with Kazu admitting Naoya as a magic user, it would make sense that he potentially tried to convert spells and rituals into a program.”

_“_...Naoya-nii once made a comment on how his normal day job could bring him trouble if the other magicians knew about it. Maybe this is why. He combined magic and technology together.” His best friend spoke. “Remember how the _demons_ shattered into particles? The program used magic to make the body for the _demon_ but the rest must be done by the ‘summoner”, that is us.”

_“_...And that’s where the ‘kill them or die’ part comes in, huh?” Yuzu made a deep sigh. “I really don’t get all of this. Why would your brother make this in the first place? We should go home before the explosion happens, it would be followed by a blackout right?”

Atsuro then remembered the e-mail. “Wow! Yuzu you solved it!”

_“_ W-What? What did I do?”

_“_ You answered why Naoya made this program! Remember the e-mail where his neighbor got killed or eaten?”

_“_ Yeah… It still gives me the chills when I think about it… Wait… You don’t mean its…?”

_“_ Yeah it is. What if Naoya made this program to counter those? Look, the e-mail said the man will be killed by an animal attack, right? What if that wasn’t an animal at all? What if that was a _demon?”_

_“…_ _!_ W-What the? Are you serious?”

_“_ I’m serious. We, and it includes Naoya since he also made a comment about it according to Kazu, received an e-mail predicting the future. We would then have an idea where and when and attack was due to occur before it happen. It is also given that magic exists and there are rituals to summon creatures and stuff, it is possible that there would be rituals to summon _demons_. Then Naoya made a program for COMPs to summon demons and allow us to fight against them. So, what conclusions can we draw from this?”

_“_...We could prevent them. By using the _demons_ to counter the _demons_ that were summoned to do harm,” Kazu spoke as he collected the stray cans of soda the three of them drank from. “There are news about _freak accidents_ lately, strange events, people missing… Not that is a new thing but lately there are lots of them being reported.”

_“_ And people are ignoring them, seeing that they couldn’t help it anyway. But what if they were caused by demons?”

_“_ Yeah… That is, if the demons are **really** the cause of these things,” Atsuro remarked.

_“_ I’m so not doing that! Why don’t we just give these back to Naoya or somebody else?” Yuzu exclaimed.

_“_ Yuzu, would you rather have someone have access to the _Demon Summoning Program_? I think the program locks on the magical signature of the user and if it isn’t the user it was ‘registered’ with, the program with start the initialization sequence. Meaning another bunch of _demons_ being summoned to deal with the ‘contract’,” Kazu replied. “And please trust Naoya-nii on this, Yuzu. He won’t do this without a reason.”

_“_ You must also remember that the COMPs have the _Harmonizer_ function, which weakens any attack done by a _demon_ to us. It would keep us safe, at the very least, from the attacks and it also functions as an ID scanner for any _demon_ we could encounter,” Atsuro spoke. “If we give it back or to the police, we couldn’t protect ourselves when a _demon_ appears in front of us.”

_“_ Ah! The Bounded Field is gone…. Huh?”

Atsuro saw people now coming down the street and the _konbini_ attendant enter the establishment. Yuzu was at the bench fumbling on her phone, probably texting her mother. And Kazuya…

_“_ Hey… Kazu. What are you staring at my head? Is there something wrong?”

His best friend then turned around and made a startled gasp when he looked at Yuzu. He then looked at himself and the other people that were coming down the street.

_“_ Hey, Yuzu. Kazu is acting strange.”

Yuzu then stood up and shook his best friend. “Hey, what’s the matter?”

_“_ Th-There’s a number up on our heads, we have a 1 but the other people have a 7. It’s a strong illusion that isn’t dangerous, from what I can tell.”

_“_ I can’t see anything, you Atsuro?”

_“_ Nope, nothing.”

With a sigh, Yuzu sat down back on the bench. “You really have to explain all this magic stuff to me later. You spoke about magical signatures and all but I have no idea what it is. And I really want to ask Naoya about all of this.”

_“_...Naoya-nii was here a while ago. I saw him across the street before the _demons_ appeared. He may have been the one who made the Bounded Field.”

_“_ Yeah, me too Kazu. You must explain things to us now since everything is done and all.”

Kazu looked around and thought for a minute. He then spoke something in a low voice and Atsuro can feel something _moved_. He looked around and people seem to avoid coming near their bench, even though they do it subconsciously.

_“_ A privacy ward. Nothing can be heard nor seen beyond the Bounded Field. It’s a small one but it would suffice at the moment,” Kazu said. “Okay, from what I checked on the files Atsuro gave me from the cracked system folder, the program seemed to be using a weird ritual to initialize the starting sequence. That is to say, before it can start it checks the user of the program through the radio waves the COMP constantly sends and receives.”

_“_ One is whether the user is a magic user or not. If so, then the program will summon a _demon_ that will match with the user in terms of magical strength. The files show other requirements that could be used as well but I may have to explain it later. If not, then a second ritual will then be performed to give the user the ability to use magic. After that the check on the user’s magical strength will then be activated and a _demon_ will be summoned.”

_“…_! Then that means...”

Before Yuzu could finish what she was about to say, Kazu continued. “The Ministry will certainly want Naoya-nii’s head if they knew about this. This is practically a very obscure ritual, which ironically I only learned of from Nii-sama. The Ritual of Conversion was said to be a very ancient ritual, made back in ancient times where God was said to given it to mankind in hopes it will ease their hardships. Used to give mankind a so-called ‘edge’ to do more things and a testament to God’s power, it was then removed from history when fellow humans grew afraid of the magic-users and persecuted them to death.”

A sigh was released and Kazu tinkered with his COMP as he finished his explanation. “I don’t know how or where Naoya-nii found it but I will ask him about it later. Anyway, the ritual is undetectable and really unnoticeable. You wouldn’t even knew you gained the ability to use magic until you did it. I knew you two gained it, since you guys never noticed this thing right here.”

Kazu pulled out a cape from his his backpack and wore it over his back. It was a dark blue on one side and red on the other. “I wore this last week, to test out its durability, at school. It has the charms that only a magic user can see it and the one who don’t won’t. Judging by the stares you are giving to me right now, you guys can see it now. Am I right?”

_“_ What the? Why do you have a cape?” Yuzu asked as she inspected the cape his best friend was wearing. “It’s so smooth, wow.”

_“_ Yep, it is even charmed to cool me down when it gets too hot and the reverse when it gets too cold. It also self-repairs as well.”

Man was he jealous. “I want one. A jacket that has the same functions and that can self-repair.”

At his statement, Kazu laughed and remarked, “Atsuro, I bought a jacket just like yours with the same charms. You too, Yuzu. It’s in my backpack. I bought one when I was in Akihibara this morning. Amagi-san was so enthusiastic when she saw what I wanted for her to make.”

_“_...Give it to me.”

_“_ Later.”

And with that, Kazu stood up and made a wave of his hand. Atsuro can feel something _collapse_. Suddenly, all of COMPs’ e-mail alerts went off.

_“_ What the?”

* * *

.

**From:** NAOYA

**Subject:** Congratulations

It seemed you’ve used the COMP. Well done.

I figured that the general confusion would be dying down by now.

I gave you three the COMPs because you will need the power of the demons. If you want to survive, you’ll have to learn how to use them.

I don’t have much time right now. Head to Aoyama Cemetery. You’ll meet a person who will affect your future activities there.

.

**From:** DS Admin

**Subject:** READ ME

Congratulations!

You have earned the qualifications to become a demon tamer.

You can now summon a demon at any time as an ally and command it.

Please note that “contracting” with the demons only occurs during the initial booting of this program. Defeating demons summoned via other COMPs does not apply, either.

Also, a tutorial function has been attached to with this e-mail. Please make use of it.

Have a safe and pleasant experience in your new life as a demon tamer.

* * *

.

_“_ Well that was informative.”

A pair of groans were heard later by the passing people in front of the Electric Museum from a group of teenagers. The three then walked away towards the direction of Miyashita Park.

* * *

Part 4

_“_ So you chose to enact your plans along with the Shomonkai’s?”

_“_ This would be the perfect time go to do it. They already destabilized the barrier between the two worlds, making me summon program work much easier and less strain on server.”

A sigh was made by the suit wearing man. “I know that this isn’t the world I cam from no I’m familiar with but I still can’t made heads and tails about all of this.”

_“_ Neither am I, Gabriel. Neither am I. From the things you said before, I would have thought you would be the one who will oppose my plans.”

_“_ Father would be so angry if he knew about the things this world had went through. The reason I left Heaven was because I don’t want to get between Lucy and Michael’s quarrel about humanity. I personally want to watch humanity to grow, just like what our Father wanted us to do.”

Gabriel the stood up from the bar he and Cain had been on and went to the window. It was already dusk and things would get more problematic as time pass by.

_“_ Your plans is pretty much straightforward. You wanted to get even and get back your brother from being incomplete. Father can’t even do a thing about it because everyone has been given free will. Yes, even us Angels.”

At these times, not even a gallon load of chocolate would suffice to the headache he figuratively was suffering from.

_“_ It is human nature to get revenge. Balance and equality and all that rot, right? And I can testify that you certainly regret the death of your brother. Oh don’t get your panties in a knot. You genuinely care for Abel. You just don’t regret killing him, only the part where his soul is blasted to bits by Met-chan.”

_“_ I can always bring him back, you know. We were given by God these powers to help our people in supplying food. He was the one who have the ability to ‘unite’ while I was the one with the ability to ‘perseverance’.”

Cain took another sip of his _sake_ and continued, “Because of ‘unity’ he can get along with almost every sentient being, which lead to him being the animal care taker. Me, on the other hand, with the ‘perseverance’ is best at plans and things that can take a long time to prosper. So I went to tending the plants, for they take time to grow. Right?”

_“_ Yeah yeah. But thanks to good old Met-chan, you accidentally killed Abel when you thought it was the one who kept on killing his animals. Oh don’t be surprised. Even though I am not the Gabriel this Heaven is familiar with, my Grace is still recognized up there. You must check out the archives up there. They really kept _everything_ in there.”

_“_ Sure I was jealous of Abel because his offerings were the ones being accepted by God-” “Father already left and left things with Met-chan, so you were offering it to Met-chan.” “-okay, by Metatron, but it didn’t got to the point that I despised him enough to kill. Because of my jealousy, I strove to grow better crops than before. But...”

_“_ Met-chan decided to shake things up. Back at my world, Lucy tried dragging Abel to Hell by tricking him. Since Lucy already fell down to Hell, he can turn anyone to a demon as long he was allowed to do so by the victim. So Cain, the first big brother in the world, made a deal to be the one who will be dragged to Hell instead of Abel. But he have to kill Abel so Abel could go to Heaven immediately.”

_“_...That’s the first time I heard about my alternates.”

_“_ I...I killed with my scythe, Gabriel. I… I don’t know what happened but the last thought I remembered before I found myself on my brother’s dead body was that I don’t like he got his offerings being accepted.”

_“_ This may be a cliché or something... but that would be what I called ‘got entered by the Holy Ghost’. You got used by Met-chan or one of his lackeys to kill Abel. Of course, in the end Met-chan would deny it cause technically _you_ killed your brother. I’d say they deliberately did it so that they could test their projects. Especially on souls.”

_“_ If they were planning on experimenting a human’s soul at that time, well they sure did got what they wanted. Reincarnation with complete protection from premature death and _cursed_ with **true** memory recollection.”

_“_ Met-chan was the most ambitious of all angels in Heaven. Just because he was chosen by Father to be His personal scribe/secretary, he got a big head. But to see him be the leader of Heaven in this world, I fear for my old world. He ran away from Heaven, I think he left after I left so I have no idea where is now.”

The two men in the bar fell into silence for a couple of minutes before Naoya rose up.

_“_ I have to go now. I still have to check whether the Shomonkai changed their plans and if they did so, I could adjust mine immediately.”

_“_ I’ll be right here then. Go.”

Naoya the left the bar, leaving his bottle of _sake_ on the counter. Gabriel scoffed at the idea of Cain _not_ finishing the rice wine. Taking a sip from the bottle, Gabriel was surprised by the sweet taste.

_“_ Cain, you bastard.”

Gabriel carried off the used cup and bottle of _amazake_ to the kitchen area of the bar and stored the bottle at the refrigerator while throwing the used cup to the sink. He took a pouch of Chocolate Angels from the refrigerator before he left.

As he walked out of the bar he owned under the name of Manny Sullivans, Gabriel pondered on his circumstances for the past 6 years.

* * *

.

After he was summoned by a rather crude circle he recognized as a summoning circle made for Archangels, he questioned Cain on how he was a human and the presence of Abel, despite having an incomplete soul which shouldn’t be possible in the first place, instead of being at Heaven.

To his surprise he discovered he wasn’t in the world he came from. Given that his Father probably did something to save His youngest Archangel from permanently dying, he wasn’t expecting to be in a world where his Father absconded Heaven.

He can feel his Father’s Grace whenever he went, which caused so much trouble to the Angels in Heaven since they can feel their Father was somewhere but He wasn’t at Heaven. But here in the world Gabriel was summoned, his Father wasn’t there.

Gabriel hypothesized this was a world his Father created along with the other worlds. He and his brothers were there when their Father created worlds to watch over but their… _aunt_ recklessly destroyed those she came across in a fit of anger. Thankfully they managed to… _pacify_ their _aunt_ before she could do more damage.

As such, Gabriel had an idea he was in a world where his Father forgot to take care of. If he could compare it to something simple, he would say this world would be a xerox copy of the world he came from. Only to find out it had been overwritten as time passed by.

Sure the world he found himself in contains humans, angels and demons. But the absence of his Father’s presence and the power of his Father’s words of ‘go forth and multiply’ caused a massive shift in the world’s order and rules.

After he interrogated Cain, he went off to Heaven. Just to check if things were the same as in his old world.

Boy was he surprised when he arrived there. Things went _so_ **different**. Dear old Lucy still fell, but its because he wanted nothing to do with the way that ambitious Metatron lead Heaven. Michael became a lackey of Metatron, one who will follow anything their Father wanted to do, even if it was only implied by Metatron. Raphael went somewhere, clearly disgusted but doesn’t want to leave the halls of Heaven.

Rumors imply he went the Cupids and became a Patron Angel of Love and Healing. That was weird, even for his standards.

And Lucifer. Oh boy, in this world he had the name Helel before falling. He was so disgusted by Metatron’s usurpation that he willingly fell so that he could protect humanity in his own way. By countering Metatron’s, which became entire Heaven’s Will, idea of complete loyalty.

Which Gabriel found in the end involved ‘ _debriefing_ ’ in a way Naomi would be proud of. In fact, maybe this world’s Naomi must be the one who would prepare the ‘ _debriefing_ ’ materials in case Heaven’s Will occur. Also another reason why he left Heaven, their Father wanted them to watch over humanity.

Not subjugating them like cattle.

Helel, who calls himself as Lucifer nowadays, wanted the bring the world to chaos so that humanity can show their innate nature of being aggressive and wild. And then leave them alone. He have no love for humanity but he will help them, in accordance to their Father’s words of ‘watching over them’.

He’ll just let them rot in their own machinations while at the same time sabotaging Heaven’s actions in subjugating them.

Lately though, from what Gabriel managed to collect from Heaven’s rumor mill, Lucifer is bored from the lack of actions from Heaven so he may do something drastic in Hell. Most likely he’ll trick a high ranking demon in Hell to kill themselves in the human world.

That was also a thing. The world he came into was divided into two, the human world and the demon world. Humanity lived in the human world while the rest of the supernatural beings exist in the demon world.

Since their Father gave the words of ‘go forth and multiply’, it had an effect in this world. It caused the power of belief by humans to evolved, causing deities and mythical beings to exist in the demon world.

As long as humanity believed at one point in time about something, it will form over at the demon world. Which Gabriel soon discovered, when he transported himself to it one time, was a massive dimension divided into pantheons of several religions and myths.

Needless to say, the world Gabriel found himself in was sustained by the power of humanity’s belief.

When he returned to Cain and Abel, he found Cain to be distraught over something. But Cain hid it from him. He won’t pursue on investigating it until a few years later.

Somehow the summoning circle Cain made was a binding summoning circle, a prototype for a massive summoning program Cain was making. It involved summoning demons and binding them to the summoner using a catalyst and an offering.

When Gabriel inquired on how he successfully summoned him when the needed ‘payment’ of the summon was a soul. Not even their Father can fight against the Law of Equal Exchange to which their Father must adhere as well.

Cain rather told him a story of how his brother’s soul got corrupted by the machinations of God, which Gabriel instantly corrects him by replacing it with Metatron, and became a Bel demon.

It seemed that Metatron had a thing against the first sons of Adam and Eve. He caused the elder brother to be cursed (punished) and the younger one to be turned into a demon, a special demon in fact.

Abel’s soul became a Bel demon and got blasted to pieces by Metatron. The shards then got absorbed by other demons who then gained a ‘Bel’ in their name as an identifying mark of absorbing a part of Abel’s soul.

The only consolation Cain had was that a small shard of Abel’s soul went back to the human world and constantly being reincarnated along with Naoya. However, he discovered later on that Metatron tinkered with the human shard of Abel’s soul.

It would only resurface completely when Abel’s reincarnation would receive a murder attempt and survived to live the tale. And it should be done within a 14 months after he was given birth. Or else Abel’s human soul would then move on to another mortal vessel and wait for another 14 months.

Metatron really loved to play god, even though he was only their Father’s secretary.

Cain then revealed that due to certain circumstances, his brother resurfaced for the second time. The first time his brother resurfaced was during the time the Tower of Babel was being constructed. Both of them reconciled and managed to get a stage to get even against God (Metatron). They gathered all of Abel’s soul shards using the magic they were blessed with from the demons who absorbed it.

But just like in the myths, the tower was struck down and Abel was scattered again.

Thankfully, the curse on Cain was effective in removing the speech confusion God (Metatron) that he was still able to recall the ancient common tongue throughout his reincarnations.

Still, Abel, reincarnated as his cousin, which was as close as they were in the past, was still incomplete. So Cain was planning to summon forth several Bel demons to retrieve the shards of his brother.

Cain then revealed that he used a soul shard that was embedded on his brother’s forehead, to which he then used on the prototype summoning circle he made. Since it was a soul, in spite of its splintered state, it is completely viable as a reagent for the summoning.

Initially he wanted to summon Loki, a Norse god who was said to bring forth Ragnarok, since the god was said to be a trickster and loved to cause mayhem. It would be also a test run if his prototype summoning could do handle a binding contract system at its core.

Well, Cain _did_ summoned Loki. However, not the Loki he wanted to. Gabriel, in order to escape from being roped into Michael and Lucifer’s dispute, asked for his Father a disguise to hide from his brothers. Since in his old world, the original Loki was already _smitten…_ **permanently** by the pagan god Odin, his Father decided to give him the guise of Loki, using the leftover pagan equivalent of their Grace.

Thus, he is both the Archangel Gabriel and the Trickster god Loki. However, he doesn’t know if his titles could still be applied here in the new world.

Gabriel knew that he wouldn’t be entirely safe since he has two… maybe three conflicting personas in the new world. He doesn’t know what happened to the Gabriel of this world, since the last thing he heard in this world’s Heaven was that Gabriel was tired of following Metatron and Michael’s orders and went somewhere she could do her own duties.

Yes, **_she_**. Apparently this world’s Gabriel was a _female_ Archangel, and she was the equivalent of the Greek god Hermes. Or the Roman god Mercury. He swings both way, either way.

Tired of Metatron and Michael’s demands of submitting to their way, she left Heaven and went to do her duties as the Patron Angel of Communication and Aspirations. Apparently, before their Father left this world, He left duties for their counterparts here to do. Like Castiel’s counterpart here, Cassiel, who was the Patron Angel of Peace, Serenity, Solitude, Harmony and Tears.

He had so much duties to attend to that he didn’t caught neither a glimpse of his brother’s counterpart here. His last duty though. Gabriel found it strange that their Father gave Cassiel the duty of taking care of people who need assistance in the area of Tears.

Which somehow makes sense since if you are already leaking _tears_ , it would mostly lead to a clear mind which translates to gaining _harmony_. Man, Cassiel sure does have lots of things to do here.

Nevertheless, Gabriel wasn’t safe, even though his vessel was transported also in the new world he found himself in. For the following months that followed, he and Cain determined that Gabriel’s vessel was completely _synchronized_ with his Grace. Meaning the body was _alive_ in lieu of being dead.

They realized it when Cain decided to incorporate several requirements on his project. Cain applied a spell matrix on his program that would terminate itself when it detected its user to be dead. It would also reboot and proceed to restart the program if it detected a new and _alive_ user.

So when Gabriel tried to test one of Cain’s programs on a spare COMP, the program booted up. Which then they realized Gabriel is technically a human with Angelic Grace in his soul. He was now akin to Cain and Naoya in terms of existence since both of them are technically humans in body yet aren’t fully human in spirit.

That lead to Cain helping Gabriel get him a _legitimate_ documents validating his identity, in both the magical and mundane societies. Although Cain had to pull some strings for Gabriel to have a valid background, even Gabriel had to use his _angelic_ abilities to ease the trouble, they could only accomplish on giving Gabriel a _gaitosho_ or an ARC [Alien Registration Card]. He prefer calling it as a _gaijin_ card, much to Cain’s embarrasment.

Gabriel liked being an American citizen, thank you very much. Even with the falsified _American_ documents, which don’t exist in America, he had legit identity documents in Japan. Confusing, but that was the point.

And speaking of America, he wondered if the Winchester brothers exist here as well. He saved them from being used by the other pagan deities which led him to being killed by his brother. Yeah, he was killed but he didn’t die. Irony.

But he can’t leave Japan, or at least within a certain range from his summoner. Which was a surprise to both Cain and Gabriel.

The contract in the binding summoning he was summoned with had glitched , so to say, that it instead of Cain it went to Abel. Probably because Abel supplied the _offering_ for the summoning and was used to heal his lethal wounds. And because it was a prototype of the summoning program, he have the privileges to act on his own and have his own autonomy.

But he still have to adhere to the orders of Abel, when he realized that he was his contractor. Good thing he doesn’t have any idea of him being his summoner and contractor.

* * *

.

Unless circumstances required him to reveal the fact to Kazuya, he will keep silent on the matter. It also doesn’t hurt that Kazuya was a good teenager that can get along with almost everyone. Gabriel swore Abel’s personal magic specialization of ‘ _unity_ ’, according to Naoya, affects Kazuya into becoming a very a popular teenager.

He liked to kid that he sometimes think he was summoned just to be Kazuya’s guardian angel. Even if the contact wasn’t there in the first place, he will still aim to guide him to safety and help him have a nice life.

But he’s Abel. And with how the Shomonkai threatened Naoya once they discovered Naoya have a method to summon their ‘god’, Kazuya will be caught in the chaos that is looming over the city.

Gabriel found himself on the train station at Shinjuku, waiting for the train to arrive. Since Naoya left already for Father knows what, he had to entertain himself in other ways. He might as well go to Omotesando and try to check up the new stuff his favorite chocolate confectionery there.

Just as he was about to get out at Shibuya Station, something got hold of him and pulled him into an alley.

_“_ My fellow Angel, may I inquire on your business here down on Earth?”

Oh boy. He should have tightened the suppressor of his Grace that day. An Angel of this world found him.

_“_ Hehe. Nice to meet you then..? Uh… who are you again?” Gabriel replied. He was so uncomfortable by the way the teenager in front of him. The stare the teenager was giving him was so intense. His/Her Grace is even affecting the entire area around them, with how the hair decorations of the girl was swaying in the windless alley and how her clothes were floating at the sleeves and edges of her short dress.

This Angel couldn’t be more inconspicuous. The Grace around them would attract any demon around the vicinity.

If this was his old world, there seemed to be a lack of demons here in Japan. Maybe they are at America since the Asian countries were more religious and prefer to keep their _purity_ intact. And he meant that in the vaguest way as possible.

Gabriel couldn’t guess on the identity of the Angel in front of him. Angels like himself prefer to have vessels that match their preferences but sometimes they would have to settle on having a vessel of a different gender when the situation demands it.

_“_ I’m the Thunder of God, fellow Angel. I ask of you again, what is your business here?” the girl spoke again in a very distorted voice.

_“_ I’m just a lowly Angel. I have been tasked to watch over a child and I’m on my way to him.” Gabriel replied. He couldn’t let Ramiel know who he is.

_“_ Ah. Tasked with being a Guardian Angel. You have been blessed to take upon the task you have been given. However..,”

Did he noticed he was lying? Wait, maybe its…

_“_ I would inquire why you decided to posses a lowly human in your task? It is an impediment to one’s duty when one is restricted only to human actions.”

Gabriel quickly replied, “It is part of my task, the soul of the human whose body I posses is already being judged for his erroneous ways.” He hoped Remiel would take it.

_“_ Ah. I see. Well then, I must be on my way. My vessel has work to do. I shall be resuming to my duty and you too shall be. May our Father’s Will be with you.”

_“_ And so to you too.”

Remiel walked away from the alley a few meters and the Grace his vessel was exuding instantly disappeared. It left a slightly disoriented young woman who then walked towards the direction of a group of similarly colored people.

_“_ Huh. An Angel working with a Shomonkai member. Didn’t Naoya said they were worshipping Belberith? Why would an Angel, especially the likes of Remiel, would work with in tandem with a cult of a demon?” he said out loud while tearing a pack of Chocolate Angels.

Gabriel munched on the Chocolate Angels and continued towards the confectionery. “Is this another of your schemes Metatron?”

He just hopes that it nothing but he will expect a tragic scenario the next couple of days.

* * *

Part 5

_“_ And… There! You’re all healed up!”

_“_ Ah!!! Wow!!! Thank you Mochizuki-sensei!~”

_“_ You’re welcome Midori. Now don’t go far away from your parents, okay?”

_“_ Yes Sensei!~”

_“_ You promise?”

_“_ I promise!”

_“_ Now then, go now. Shoo~ Your parents are waiting for you.”

The small girl then rushed out of the small clinic. The clinic was quite small, with only a sink, a small table and a couple of chairs in it. It also had a small bed fit enough for a child to get some rest if he or she got tired or injured.

Mari Mochizuki tidied up the extra bandages and band-aids on the table. She also cleaned up the used cotton balls filled with iodine and alcohol, which were used to disinfect the wound of the small girl earlier.

It was a selfless duty to the public, being an elementary school nurse with her very own personal clinic in Kanda, Chiyoda-ku. Although it is small, it is quite popular with the residents of the neighborhood she was living in. She is nice to children that they are calm enough for her to give them vaccine and booster shots, which is why their parents frequently go to her.

Despite being a licensed nurse, she is not really _allowed_ to own a clinic. Since she’s not a doctor and all but that didn’t stopped her from trying. Her boyfriend… late boyfriend helped her establish the clinic she currently spends her time at whenever school closes at weekends, holidays and vacations.

The government can make a bid deal about it but as a nurse, she is first and foremost a servant to the people. Her job may be a selfless one, one that usually doesn’t attract much recognition and thanks, but the feeling of helping a fellow person get over his/her sickness is enough for her.

...Well, aside from the significant salary she gets from being a nurse, she is happy with it.

As Mari went out the door and closed up her small clinic, which the people will protect from being demolished if the higher-ups discovered she had an _illegal clinic_ , the parents of one Midori Hirano immediately bowed to her when she turned around.

_“_ Thank you for taking care of our daughter!” the couple exclaimed. The two were quite enthusiastic.

_“_ Its nothing. It was only a scratch,” Mari replied, smiling.

_“_ No, it is _not_ nothing. We are brand new parents so we fear for her safety. After all, she will be the only one in our family,”the husband said while making a smile frown on his face. His wife frowned as well.

_“_ Oh dear. My condolences. Well, all’s well that has ended well, right? We must be going now. The trains will be jam packed at this hour, you know?” Mari said. “You two better get your daughter some rest. She’s practically drooping beside you.”

The said girl almost fell over, clearly tired from her all day excursion around the city. She was then scooped by her father while the mother resumed in thanking Mari.

The couple then went to an eastern direction, leaving Mari alone on the street with her bag on her shoulders. She removed the medical coat she had on herself and rolled it.

Mari stuffed in her small bag and clutched on the small keychain her late boyfriend gave to her. A bat-designed keychain with red and black color scheme, it was the last gift her boyfriend gave to Mari before he died the next day.

Passing by a shrine, she went inside and prayed for her boyfriend’s safety in the afterlife and her own. Might as well as include Tadashi while she was doing it. Kenuichio was a hero to her and his brother’s eyes while he was reviled by the police for his good deeds and affiliations.

He wanted the world to be a better place so he started the Shibuya Daemons, a _gang_ he and his brother made to be a vigilante group in Shibuya-ku. Unfortunately he died the year before, leaving Tadashi to lead the Daemons.

Oh how Ken-kun would be saddened if he saw what happened to the Daemons. She met Ken-kun when she joined the Daemons back at her high school days. Mari used to think she was weak because she wanted to be nurse, so she decided to join a _gang_ to show others she can be _strong_ and not _weak_.

Despite of her innocent and meek image in her teenage years, she packed quite a punch whenever they went to protect the streets of Shibuya-ku. Due to this, she met the leader Kenuicho and the rest were history.

Unofficially, she was the second-in-command of the Daemons while she was in it but she quit when Mari entered college. She was good at doing her part in the _gang_ and add the fact that she can patch up anyone’s injuries when they got banged up, Mari was looked up by the member of the Daemons.

The other members still adhere to her whenever they managed to see her in public but most of them respected her decision to move on. Especially when their former leader died from the “bloodless murders”.

Oh how she went amok on that day she got received the call of the hospital where her boyfriend’s body got delivered. Needless to say, she was feared by the resident doctors of that hospital and made a very good lesson on the sorrow of a woman scorned by fate.

The investigations done by the police and the Daemons showed no concrete reason on how her boyfriend died nor got connected to the “bloodless murders”.

The last person Ken-kun met was also found with his corpse, drained of his blood, leading to the case of deaths called as “bloodless murders”. The previous victims also had a connection to the person Ken-kun met, so everything somehow collapsed when her boyfriend died.

Several speculations and hypotheses of the police collapsed when her boyfriend died because they had the gall to think her boyfriend was the murderer. They ruled it as a murder-suicide just so they could close the case immediately.

Mari never liked the police. It was one reason why she joined the Daemons when she was in high school. They were a useless bunch of people who only cared for themselves and hid behind the facade of being helpful and benevolent servants of the people.

What a joke.

Mari finished up her prayers and went outside of the temple. She just then noticed the group of people outside who were making a lot of noise with their arguments. They soon noticed her and left the shrine, leaving their clutter and a tall piles of trash behind.

Sighing, Mari didn’t bothered to chastise the group. Clearly they thought they were better than others and it wasn’t their business to clean up their own mess.

As she was throwing the clutter to the garbage bins, she noticed a pile of papers stacked on a bench. A bunch of symbols were printed on the papers but only one was in acceptable condition. The rest were smudged by a knocked over can of soda.

It looked to be a warding sigil or something, maybe from the West? Mari had no idea. To her, it appears to be some sort of charms that the shrine keeprs were supposed to be giving away when the festival came.

Maybe the group was the replacement for the old shrine keeper of the shrine in their place. But for some reason they backed out? She had no idea.

Still, she won’t waste a perfect charm or talisman. She heard the old shrine keeper would be handing out charms and talismans of safety and protection to the townsfolk that upcoming festival.

The rest were already destroyed so it wouldn’t hurt anyone if she kept the acceptable one for herself. The others won’t know it anyway.

Putting the paper of sigils in her pocket, she made her way to her small apartment. It was already dusk. She’s getting hungry anyways.

* * *

.

She never would understand why Tadashi still kept on visiting her. Everyday. Every single day.

It gets annoying when it reached past the limit of 10 times.

Tadashi might meant well in his visits but it gets annoying when he questions on how her life had been after a year.

Mari had to push Tadashi out of her small apartment just so that she could get some well-earned rest. She lost her appetite that evening.

Her foul mood only got worse when the lights went out after a distant explosion can be heard from a distance. Thankfully her clothes were already dry and out of the dryer.

But the water… The water got cut-off. She had to bring out the candles and light them up so that she could see in the darkness but the water…

Mari couldn’t get a shower after that. Good thing that she made plans for this situation. Uncovering the water container she kept in storage, she used the water in it to have a bath. Sometimes her ingenuity comes through.

Hopefully the power and water will come back in the morning. Mari and the other residents of her apartment complex were lucky that their emergency generators went alive an hour after the black out.

But the telephone lines and even the internet were all down. Even the television broadcasts were empty. The radios were even useless.

Somehow Mari felt that these things were just the start as she tried to fall asleep that night. Her air conditioner was the only thing running in her apartment to save electricity.

Their generators could only provide electricity up to a certain point. Until they could get their hands on gasoline, they would have to settle on using as little electricity as they could.

* * *

Part 6

The explosion and the blackout that followed were troublesome to one Midori Komaki. Good thing that her hotel had emergency generators to keep the lights going but it couldn’t bring back the internet and telephone lines. Nor it could bring back the water that somehow got cut off during the blackout.

And here she was already up and ready to make a video blog of the excitement she went through that day at Akihibara. Despite the event being a small scale one compared to the other events she went to before, Midori enjoyed it. She got herself new merchandise to use, met some awesome cosplayers and got to meet her fans there.

She also managed to snag a brand new costume idea for her to make and wear the next event. Her daddy called and arranged for her a hotel room because the trains going in and out of the Yamanote Line went down at 17:00. So he sent money to her account and Midori used to pay for her hotel room.

Her daddy really was the best. Since her mother died, his daddy tried to fill in the roles of being her daddy and mommy. It was funny for some times since he can’t understand some of the body functions of a woman, tomuch less of a girl, but he loved his daddy for his attempts.

Still, it was annoying. Midori would have met with his daddy at Toda Station at Toda-shi, Saitama-ken and would have a great night having a dinner at one of her favorite restaurants. Her daddy worked overseas ever since her mother died, to find a job that would give him the salary he needed for his family.

So his visits are moments Midori cherished whenever he got the time to do so.

_“_ We are terribly sorry for the inconvenience...”

The intercom of the hotel repeated the message Midori heard ever since 21:00. She changed already for her night clothes and was ready to sleep but that irritating intercom can be heard even inside the bathroom.

She just had to endure it. That’s all.

* * *

.

Chaos. Pure chaos. That was the sight Midori found when she went to the lobby of her hotel. People were complaining left and right. The staff were like headless chickens running around to meet with their guests’ needs.

Well, her needs were already done since the hotel prepared her a nice breakfast composed of waffles, pancakes and hot chocolate. Quite a rarity in Japan to see the kind of breakfast being served. But then again, she was in a hotel. They obviously had to cater foreigners.

The people at the lobby looked tired. Like they didn’t got much sleep or got a good night’s rest. And their clothes appear to be stained by sweat. The one where sweat dried over and made crater-like stains.

Midori was thankful that she managed to take a shower before it got mysteriously cut off at 20:00. And she also had some extra clothes to wear, although the one she was now wearing was a spare one of her yesterday’s costume.

Just in case she managed to _damage_ her costume, she could replace it with a brand new one. She also planned to sell it online to others to get some money after she used the other one. After all, money is something all cosplayers must learn to manage.

_“_ The stations are all closed down and even the roads are closed off! Why are the SDF even there in the first place?!”

That’s new. The SDF closing down the roads? Well maybe its just a rumor or something. Midori still have to move.

Her daddy must be waiting for her at the Station. She overslept by an hour so she only had about… an hour to travel. She must hurry to the Ikebukuro Station and ride a train on the Saikyo Line to the Toda Station.

_“_ I swear something was stalking me at the shadows this morning! It looked like a dog but a dog that tall couln’t exist, right?

_“_...I think I saw a floating cat today.”

_“_ Well, I **definitely** saw a horned monster last night at the Shinjuku Station! It was **this** tall!”

Midori passed through the three men in front of the hotel doors and carried her bag towards the direction of the nearest Train Station.

There’s no way the Trains are down at this hour. They had _all night_ to fix them.

* * *

Part 7

Kazuya was certain that the person he saw at Electric Museum was his Naoya-nii. Only his brother could make that Bounded Field of _that_ quality. Still, his Nii-sama was so… annoying with his e-mails.

He could have told them in a straightforward manner but he had to speak in very vague ways. His brother could have just went and said to him that there would be trouble and he may have to do some _very dangerous_ stuff to counter it.

Such like fighting _demons_ , for a start.

After they left the Electric Museum and made their way to Aoyama Cemetery, Kazuya discovered a brand new application to his COMP. He called out Atsuro and Yuzu on this and to his astonishment, they too have the same application on their COMPs.

Under the name of [TEAMS], it looked like something he would expect from a video game’s preparations screen. A block with his COMP handle and his avatar, which he added during the wait for Atsuro to finish cracking the COMPs a while ago, with 2 extra spaces beside him.

Selecting his block, the top screen of the COMP showed his supposed ‘stats’ and ‘skills’ he have. Which were all somewhat creepy when it showed the type of spells he can use.

Megido, Zionga, Mazionga, Mediarama, Amrita, Dekunda, Masukukaja, Tetrakarn and Makarakarn.

Navas Nebula and Agneyastra.

They were all listed in it.

And his so called ‘stats’. Well he had a higher Magic stat than his Vitality and Strength but his Strength is much better compared to his Vitality. His Agility though, it was only a single digit to reach the level of his Magic stat.

_…_ This application is absolutely creepy. It shows their magical and physical parameters in terms of numerical values and it actually shows the known skills of the user.

...And some more. He doesn’t know what is Cool Breeze, Holy Blessing, and Anti-Almighty but he doubt he won’t be left in the dark about those soon.

There was also a ‘bench’, so to say, where an image of the Kobold he defeated earlier was displayed.

...If he could ‘assign’ the said Kobold to his team, then his Naoya-nii would really get his butt kicked. Hard. Kazuya now regretted persuading his Naoya-nii to join and play video games with him.

He certainly had _fun_ while making the _Demon Summoning Program_ if he incorporated an RPG preparation screen. And he even added a… leader column?

Now that he made a closer look, he could see a page 2 and page 3 of the preparation screen. Kazuya selected the second page and a block with Yuzu’s avatar and handle on it appeared with a Pixie beside her.

_“_ Hey guys. Yuzu. Atsuro. Are you in a video game preparations screen?” Kazuya asked as he selected the third page. Atsuro’s avatar and handle replaced Yuzu’s and a Kabuso beside his block replaced the Pixie.

_“_ I can see my ‘stats’ and I have the Kabuso I punched ago as a team member,” Atsuro replied. “How about you Yuzu?”

_“_...Your real name is Harry James E. Potter…? And your from England?! Is this true Kazuya?” Yuzu exclaimed.

Kazuya had to look up from his COMP fast that his neck almost hurt. “Wh-Where did you heard of that?”

Yuzu made a face of embarrassment and looked away from Kazuya’s surprised stare. “I… I read it… in the COMP… Its at the [PROFILES] app.”

Kazuya and Atsuro immediately exited the [TEAMS] app and searched for the [PROFILES]. And sure did Kazuya found the application.

He opened it and found 5 ‘profiles’ for him to read. His profile, Naoya, Atsuro, Yuzu, and Gabriel’s profiles were all in there for him to read.

Kazuya opened his profile to check and what he found really concerned him a lot.

_“_ Name: Minegishi, Kazuya. Age: 17. Handle: SOULSRVR. The adopted brother/cousin of Naoya Minegishi from his mother’s side of the family. He looks up to his brother Naoya as the best brother in the world and would trust him with his life. He liked to have fun with people by playing pranks but he is actually a nice person and very friendly. He cares for his best friends, Atsuro Kihara and Yuzu Tanikawa. No. 3 at the Most Popular People in his school. His real name before adoption was Harry James E. Potter and he was born in England,” Atsuro said. “And look, they even had your picture here. Looks like someone took a picture of you on the street.”

_“_ Atsuro! Nobody knew what my real name is! Except for my parents and Naoya-nii. Well maybe Gabe as well, but he only knew my nickname when Naoya introduced me to him with it,” Kazuya retorted with a wince. It physically hurt to hear that name being called out loud in public.

He hate it with a passion. It sounded so _wrong_ to his ears. In fact, it felt like it wasn’t even _his_ name but _someone_ else. Hearing it again just makes his chest tighten and his heart hurt like he was having a heart attack or something.

_“…_ Kazu..,” Yuzu said as she walked closer to Kazuya and gave him a hug. “That’s okay. That’s okay. Surely you have a reason not to hear it, right?”

_“_...” Yuzu released Kazuya and pulled Kazuya towards a bench along the streets. She made him sit down on it and she took the place beside him.

_“_ We will respect it, okay? But you have to tell us why someday. It isn’t right to keep it all in.”

_“_ I… I feel like it isn’t really my name, Yuzu.” Atsuro walked closer and stood beside Yuzu. “I felt wrong. Its like I’m being forced to be this… this person when I know who I am.”

_“_ Mom told me one time that my real parents disappeared a year after I was born. Someone placed me on a basket and left me on the doorstep of my other aunt in England,” Kazuya sadly told them. “Good thing Mom was there for a visit, she took me along with them. If she wasn’t there, Aunt Petunia would have thrown me somewhere. Most likely a ditch.”

_“_ Why?” Atsuro asked. “Why would she do that?”

Kazuya laughed and smiled sadly. “She hated my real mother. She hated her so much that it got transferred to me. Anyway, recently Mom and Dad went to England for their job and they discovered something terrifying.”

_“_ What is it?” Yuzu questioned Kazuya as she took his hand and made slow circles on his palm. It was calming to a point.

_“_ A convict escaped from a prison and began terrorizing England with explosives and other things that scared the people of England. He was reported to kill people and leave their bodies with a message ‘Where is HARRY POTTER?’,” Kazuya replied with a smile that looked way off on his face. “Now you know that I am popular at England too.”

_“_ That’s crazy! Why would that convict want you?” the teen with a white cap said. “You have no connections with England ever since you were a year old, right?”

_“_ I have no idea as well, Atsuro. I have no idea. That’s also one reason why I hate that name. It reminds me that people died because of that name,” the green-eyed teen answered. “It… It gets to me… That’s why I make people laugh with my pranks.”

Atsuro thought for a moment and had an epiphany. “Because when they enjoyed your pranks, it makes you happy, right?”

_“_ Along those lines… Mostly because I want to them laugh for the people who didn’t got to chance to laugh anymore. Live the life that they didn’t got to live, you know? Live for those died?”

Atsuro and Yuzu spent a moment of silence with Kazuya as he tried to calm himself down. Throughout their entire conversation, his entire body was shaking and he had sweat rolling off his face. Good thing that he at the very least calmed down after talking it with his best friends.

_“_...Yuzu. Atsuro. Thank you.”

_“_ What for?” “Yeah, what for.”

_“_ For being there with me?”

_“_ Stupid, that’s what friends are for. Right Atsuro?” “Yeah, you’re completely right… Yoohoo~”

_“_ Hey!”

Kazuya had to stifle the chuckle from his best friends’ teasings. Releasing a gulp of breathe, he stood up and made to move towards Aoyama.

_“_ Let’s go guys. We have somebody to meet at Aoyama. Just like what my Profile said, I trust Naoya with my life. We could ask him later about these new apps that came out from our COMPs when we meet him.”

_“_ And oh yeah, Yuzu. We have to teach you about the other app. The [TEAMS]? The _demons_ we defeated earlier said about a ‘contract’ and the other e-mail said about us being ‘demon tamers’. It has something to do with it.”

* * *

.

By the time they arrived at Aoyama Cemetery, they managed to understand the function of the [TEAMS] app. It was essentially the _Demon Summoning Program_ functioning as a party member screen in video games.

They could assign _demons_ they ‘contracted’ as their ‘party members’ and they will follow their orders to the last word. Yuzu tried summoning the Pixie she ‘contracted’ and it did appear.

What they didn’t expected for it to be a chatterbox so they immediately ‘returned’ it.

They also learned how to assign skills, just like in an RPG game. Because the _Demon Summoning Program_ incorporated the Ritual of Conversion, it gave Atsuro and Yuzu the ability to use magic. And the said magic skills were registered as ‘skills’ in the app.

Atsuro confessed the feeling of ‘registering’ a ‘skill’ was akin to remembering a thing he used to do before. Just like how he used to ride a bike but because he don’t ride a bike nowadays, he forgot how to do now. It was like that.

Testing out if Atsuro can still do the skill after it was ‘unassigned’ to him, Atsuro can still do it. But he have to speak the spell vocally and the resulting spell was significantly weaker if it was assigned. Still, they will want to stack the odds in their favor.

Especially that they believe they will have to fight the _demons_ that will attack people the next day when the e-mail predicting future comes.

Kazuya’s… unique spells can’t be registered with the COMPs, which greatly disappointed Atsuro and slightly for Yuzu. Kazuya trained for several years as a magician under his brother, making his spell repertoire a special one since it was all natural unlike the one given by the COMPs.

They _are_ powerful, especially Megido and Navas Nebula, but the three of them agreed it won’t do much against the _demons_ since the _Harmonizer_ will ‘normalize’ the attacks of both parties to an extent.

So when the they arrived at the Cemetery, they reached it around 19:00. They spent a long time studying the apps and the COMPs functions, even Yuzu joined it. Begrudgingly.

The boys promised to Yuzu though that if they somehow found themselves in _serious_ trouble, they’ll run away. At least it pacified Yuzu’s worries, for now.

* * *

.

_“_ So… Who are we going to meet up here again?” Atsuro asked. The entire cemetery was empty, as it was almost dark by the time their group arrived.

_“_ Naoya-nii said it was person, so its someone he knew or maybe he himself. I won’t deny that Naoya-nii _would_ do that. He did surprised me by kidnapping me to Osaka,” Kazuya replied. “What about you Yuzu? Did you see someone over there?”

Yuzu only shook her head. “Nope, no one is here. Why would Naoya send us here? Is he trying to spook us?” She let out a sigh before continuing. “I mean, its already evening. I better get home soon if your brother doesn’t come. Mother might read my notes or not, I still want to get home.”

_“_ Sheesh, Yuzu. You’re safe with us and you have the COMP with you, right? You can call out that Pixie to blast a stalker if one comes to you,” the green-eyed teen remarked. “I mean, you can. Besides, you did said one day that you are one independent-”

**BOOM!**

A large explosion was heard from the distance, startling the three from what they were talking about in the first place.

_“_ Oh… What was that? An explosion?”

_“_...The e-mail! It came true!”

_“_ What? So that was what the e-mail predicted?”

_“_ Shhh! Quiet you guys! Someone’s coming!”

With that warning, the three hid behind some tombstones and saw a man wearing an orange robe being thrown across the cemetery. He hit a tombstone and slowly descended down the floor.

_“_ I… I’m so… sorry Lady… Amane. I cou-couldn’t do a thing..,” the orange robed man sputtered before gasping his last breathe. Kazuya could see the number above his head, which was a zero, slowly disappear and becoming fully transparent to his eyes as if it wasn’t there anymore.

Maybe it _really_ did disappear.

Suddenly a chilly blast of air can be felt from the direction where the man came flying through and ice shards instantly formed in mid-air. The ice shards continued forming until it reached the body of the man and encased it in a single ice block. It then shattered to pieces, causing the man’s body to turn blue from the frost.

A otherwordly laugh can be heard from where the ice shards came from. Something that looked like what one could imagine a yeti looked like except having a pair of horns and dark fun on its underside. It was roaring so loud that the three of them had to cover their ears for a while.

_“_ Wh-What is that things? Is _that_ a _demon_?”

_“_ Most likely Yuzu. Let’s check the COMPs if it shows any information on it.”

_“_ Yeah. Do it you guys while I’ll check if the coast is clear.”

The three of them began to do their assigned work as fast as they could. Kazuya could see that the Wendigo, the name of the _demon_ the COMP identified.

_“_ Wow, its a level 16 Wendigo. Mabufudyne is the only skill it had but the stats are a different matter. His HP are quite high, much higher than ours and his Vitality and Agility are also higher. We can’t beat that _demon_ now,” Atsuro said. “Don’t tell me you’re planning to fight it?”

_“_ Of course not! We made a promise to Yuzu to keep ourselves safe if the situation is something we can’t handle… And **this** is a situation we can’t handle,” Kazuya replied. “Did you see how that Wendigo used its Mabufudyne? It caused an entire lane to be temporarily be in frost that it didn’t knew we -”

_“_ Atsuro! Kazu! Look!” Yuzu exclaimed, pointing at someone at the distance. The figure was running towards the Wendigo.

_“_ Stop this now Wendigo! You can’t run away from me!” the orange robed young lady declared before releasing a stream of fire at the _demon_. The Wendigo countered with using its ice abilities to create a wall of ice as a shield.

The resulting steam came from the collision covered the cemetery for a moment but it was enough for the Wendigo to escape and gained some ground away from the young woman with a lotus headband.

_“_ Hm…? What’s this? Interlopers? This is fun! Come on out you dumbasses! There are more people in here for you to enjoy yourselves!”

The Wendigo roared as it return to face the one who summoned pillars of fire. Meanwhile, a group of _demons_ began to appear from the shadows after the Wendigo beckoned them.

_“_ No wonder people were not here. They may have fallen already to the _demons_. And speakin of demons, how did these came out?” Kazuya uttered as he opened his COMP and proceeded to summon his own Kobold.

Yuzu and Atsuro were succesful in summoning them, since they appeared immediately while Kazuya’s took 5 minutes.

Kazuya would have turned to ask what would Atsuro should do when the _stray demons_ found their hiding place. But the crowd of Pixies, Kobolds and Kabusos found it and began throwing several _elemental_ spells.

He cast a series of Tetrakarn and Makarakarn to block the incoming barrage of attacks but he could only sustain a few before some of them managed to pass through his shields. A blast of fire in front of his face caused him to stumble and fall back on his back.

Yuzu then proceeded to use her new magic skills to attack the _stray demons_. Using the Zio and Agi spells, she knocked several of the _demons_ while Atsuro used his own Zan spells against some.

A couple of burns, signed parts of their clothes and a few aches from the unblocked and unavoided attacks were the only things they got from the battle. Kazuya had to punch a strong Kobold, with a level of 13, using Navas Nebula channeled through his fist.

Suddenly a wave of energy can be felt, that healed their small burns and let them recover some of their injuries.

_“_ Hey, it isn’t me. That wave of energy was stronger than my Mediarama. It was a Mediarahan or something higher!” Kazuya defended himself, as he was scrutinized by his best friends.

The three of them then glanced at the other end of the cemetery and saw the teenager with a lotus headband looking at them. She bowed and moved back a couple of spaces before a pillar of ice manifested where she was standing a while ago.

_“_ I guess we have to help her?” Atsuro asked. “Looks to me she helped us by healing our injuries after the barrage of attacks from the other _demons_.”

_“_ Sounds fine to me. You Yuzu?” Yuzu nodded as she readied her COMP. Yuzu made an order to her Pixie to distract the Wendigo with weak Agi spells while Atsuro ordered his Kabuso to do the same with Zan spells.

Kazuya’s Kobold was ordered then to be a physical distraction to the Wendigo. The three humans then used their own magic to attack the Wendigo, assisting the teenager that helped them.

The Wendigo showed to have a weakness against fire or Agi spells, according to the ‘status screen’ their COMPs were showing, so Yuzu spent her magic to cast Agi on the Wendigo. Atsuro was the one who kept distracting the Wendigo by casting Zan at the area surrounding the Wendigo, ensuring its position. Kazuya spent throwing Ziongas at the _demon_ , avoiding using Megido, Mazionga and Agneyastra since those spells could hit his friends and the teenager who was wearing a priestess style version of the Shomonkai uniform.

Kazuya remembered seeing a version of her clothes that afternoon at Shinjuku. Shaking his head, he cast Masukukaja before he resumed on aiming Ziongas at the Wendigo. Masukukaja would boost their Agilty, by giving their bodies a boost in adrenaline which would help them in moving and evading attacks.

The Wendigo was already winded, given by the sluggish movement it made when it tried to counter. However, when the Priestess moved to deal the final blow, the COMP showed it was on its last HP digit, the Wendigo cast Mabufudyne around itself, making a rather thick ice wall that blocked their sight from whatever it was doing overseas.

After the ice wall was destroyed by Kazuya’s Megido, the Wendigo wasn’t there. Discovering the Wendigo escaped, she excused herself from the three and went somwhere else.

_“_ Huff! Huff! T-That was exhausting..,” Yuzu said as she wiped her sweat with her towel. “I never knew that fighting _demons_ would be that tiring.”

_“_ Yeah me too,” Atsuro said. “But that Priestess was something else, she handled herself well against the Wendigo.”

Before Kazuya could reply, the entire cemetery went dark. The entire city also went dark, only to illuminated by the countless generators the people had in their garages and storages.

_“_ This… is a blackout… right?”

 “...It came true! The e-mail really did came true!”

“Shhh! Someone’s there!”

From the darkness, a figure appeared. Kazuya readied himself for another skirmish but the moonlight shone on the figure revealing the Priestess underneath the shadow.

“Oh.”

“Hmm… You three were a great help on my mission on subjugating Wendigo, but he has escaped.”

“It’s nothing, we were there and well… We had the ability to help, so help we did!” Kazuya answered quickly with a fake smile on his face. Yuzu just gave him a weird look while Atsuro gave him a glare. He honestly felt he pulled out those words from thin air.

“A noble idea, it is. May I then ask for your names? It would be impolite for us to refer one another as that person, right?” the girl stated as if she wasn’t talking to three unknown strangers.

Kazuya hesitated for a moment, to which Yuzu took the reigns of the figurative chariot.

“He’s Minegishi Kazuya, The one in blue is Kihara Atsuro and I’m Tanikawa Yuzu. Nice to meet you.”

“Minegishi, Kihara, Tanikawa. I sure will then remember those names in the future. Kuzuryu Amane. Nice to meet you too.”

“It’s our pleasure.”

“Anyway, Wendigo released a couple of his minions around the cemetery. I erected a barrier to prevent them from approaching you so please… Stay here for the night,” Amane said.

“Wh-What?”

“I meant what I said. Stay here for the night and move when the morning comes. Demons are now roaming the cemetery under the orders of Wendigo so it is for your own safety.” Amane closed her eyes and then opened them a minute later. “I must be going now. I have to chase down Wendigo. However, I can tell that we will be meeting each other in the next few days. No farewells.”

And with that, Amane left the cemetery in the direction she came from. Kazuya was annoyed that for the second time that day, he didn’t felt the Bounded Field go up.

“She must have raised it up during the blackout since we three were confused about the sudden darkness,” the teen with headphones remarked as he cautiously tried to sense magic being used in the area.

“Yes… Yes, there is one. A concealment barrier, designed to hide the ones inside from the outside. A weak one but it would suffice for the night.”

“Th-This is creepy, guys. We have to spend the night here at the cemetery!”

“At least we know that we are safe amongst the dead.”

“Stop joking around! Ugh!”

Yuzu collapsed on the ground and opened her phone. “Huh? That’s weird. I have no signal.”

“The cellular site towers are powered by generators so it would be so weird if the phones lost contact in Yamanote Line.”

“But Kazu, it did. I can’t text my mom.”

Kazuya released another sigh and continued. “Well, we couldn’t be anywhere more safer than inside a Concealing Bounded Field. Besides, you guys forgot I’m a magician and you two can do magic now. Let’s use our magic to make our night here in the cemetery an acceptable one.”

“You guys don’t want to lay down on the cement right?"

* * *

.

Thanks to the expanded bag he had with him, the extra clothes he and his friends packed for that day were fine for them to use. And using the Agi and Bufu spells, they managed to have at least fresh water to use. Both for drinking and washing up.

Amane's words of the barrier keeping them safe were true as the  _demons_ outside the transparent barrier can't get in. This allowed Yuzu to have peace on her mind and had a peaceful sleep.

azuya had at least packed some blankets and pillows in his expanded bag in case they need to. Initially if the inn they will stay at had a shortage in supplies, but the situation they have found himself in proved to be enough for her to sympathize with him.

Just as he was about to go to sleep, his COMP chimed in. Checking it, he found his brother sent an e-mail to him. Atsuro too sent him an e-mail.

But there's one weird e-mail he received that was different from the rest.

* * *

**.**

**From:** WhteRbt

**Subject:** Future Set on Stone?

Today I received a death clip of mine and my friends. It was too real. Too real that it became real as well. Tokyo got wasted by an freak earthquake. Also demons exist since the death clip application became something that summons demons for us to control.

Against what? Against alien life forms. We got ourselves recruited to a group dedicated to save the world, mainly Japan, from supernatural forces.

We battled an ice-cream shaped alien that explodes on stuff. Daichi made him to lose its parts, causing it to temporarily lose its ability to be immune against everything.

We won and given a room under the Diet Building.

I still wonder on the people we saved from the first alien attack.

Would there be more of the alien life forms coming after us tomorrow.

* * *

 

"Hibiki?"

* * *

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Author's Note_
> 
>  
> 
> Here's the thing. Back at May 9 when The Distorted Shadow decided to discontinue his SMT/HP Crossover, I messaged him and asked permission of I could write something out of his work.  
> Although I originally said I was gonna write a spin-off, it became something less of a spin-off and more of an [adoption].
> 
> I fear TDS will get angry but he hasn't replied to my follow up PMs. So until he can reply to my PMs, I'm still going to add a note at every chapter I will post pointing towards his work.
> 
> Anyway, why did I posted this instead of Number Zeros and Brother of the Azure. Blame my cousin. She reminded me of having a tablet. Which then reminded me of a NDS emulator in it, which then lead me to my first NDS game I played, which then lead me to TWEWY and finally Devil Survivor.
> 
> Devil Survivor was the first game I played in the series and on the NDS. I played this back when I was in 1st year High School (around 2009), and boy did I loved every time I spent on it. 1/2 Visual Novel 1/2 RPG  
> Not to mention it was a Strategic RPG, which then lead me to the Fire Emblem Series and so on and on and on...
> 
> Also I have to mention sakurademonalchemist for her SPN/HP fics since I went into a reading spree of her fics, especially the SPN ones. Most of her SPN fics have Gabriel in it surviving or at least avoiding being killed, as it was in Canon.  
> It also lead to me thinking of how the angels in the DeSu universe acted.
> 
> So to make long things short, this is a self-indulgence fic of mine that will span the entire 7 days of the game and *spoiler* includes the ever famous TriWizard Tournament.  
> Oh boy, do I want to write it all down in one go, but I'm burned out.  
> Literally.  
> It is 2 am here and man...  
> I still have dishes to wash.
> 
> See you guys next time then.


	3. First Day: Tokyo Lockdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The First Day shown through the eyes of different people. 6 People, 6 Point of View, 1 Day.  
> Told in 7 Parts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Liberal amounts of Google Map were used in making this chapter.  
> Also check out the version in FF.net since there are some things written there that couldn't be posted at the chapter notes.

_It all goes downhill from here onwards..._

_Disclaimer: I don't own the series, okay? Both of the series._

* * *

**From:** SOULSRVR

 **Subject:** Are you okay?

Hibiki, is that you? What am I saying, of course it is you. It's me, Kazuya. Your cousin. I was surprised to see your e-mail in my inbox.

Although I have no idea how did you come across the handle on my brand new COMP, I won't complain... much.

You said you're at the Diet Building? How in the world did you even get there? As far as I know, you were planning to go to Shibuya _tomorrow_ with Shijima-kun. Maybe you two changed plans at the last minute?

And really. _Alien life forms_. Also, _demons_. By the way, did you met any Shomonkai on the way?

* * *

**From:** WhteRbt

 **Subject:** RE: Are you okay?

Who are you? And why are you acting that we are close? I don't have a cousin. In fact my parents doesn't have any siblings, so there's no way I could have any cousins.

Where do you even got my handle anyway? I didn't send any e-mail to your handle or to anyone else.

You must have the wrong person.

Sorry.

* * *

**From:** SOULSRVR

 **Subject:** Funny, Hibiki

I never knew you could be this funny, Hibiki. I bought you that white rabbit jacket/hoodie/whatever-that-is you loved so much, remember?

Also only you Hibiki would use that handle/username. You _always_ use that username in every account you make.

Whether its a MMORPG IGN or an email address, WhteRbt is your signature nickname.

So don't play mind games with me, cousin?

Now that actually went over your first e-mail, its strange that you have a 'death clip' and earthquakes. Those didn't happened today so I wonder if that happened somewhere.

Say, how's Shijima-kun? You said he's with you. Last time I heard from you, he's planning to get a driver's license.

Hm… You came across the government that fast? Strange. Anyways, at least I know you're safe. Though, with the blackout I doubt you would even get out from Tokyo at the moment.

We, on the other hand, have to stay at a cemetery since we got caught up in an attack of sorts. Good thing a priestess of a cult - I think its legit since the Shomonkai is a registered group at the Ministry - erected a barrier to prevent any stray _demons_ from attacking us.

They're too many for us to get through so we had stay in for the night.

...Please be safe cousin. Be safe..

* * *

Part 1

Even though their location is at the middle of the city, there were no loud noises commonly linked to the city nightlife. There were generators for occasional blackouts and power interruptions but there weren't any noise at all. His headphones weren't any help at all.

Although his Naoya-nii made an accompanying mp3 player for the headphones and purposely modified the power consumption to use as little electricity as possible, his Naoya-nii also programmed it to _not_ be active when it detected its past 21:00. Mainly because Kazuya rarely slept at night if he was allowed to listen to music.

This made one Kazuya Minegishi a very grouch person at that time. He didn't know if his best friends knew it but Kazuya can't sleep at night unless there is background noise for him to listen to. Even white noise would be enough for him. As long as there's noise or any semblance of sound, he can get some rest.

His only consolation was that his Naoya-nii usually was there to help him get to sleep. Kazuya doesn't really know how his Nii-sama does it but whenever he has these 'insomnia attacks', his Naoya-nii would sing a lullaby he was familiar with. It was in a language that wasn't Japanese nor English. Kazuya knew that it wasn't any language he knew but he was familiar with it to comprehend it.

( _of course you would be familiar with it, its the **first** language after all)_

But his situation at that moment didn't helped him at all. His phone was dead, literally, after he noticed an ice shard found itself lodged in it. A stray ice shard that came from the Wendigo's attack hours before. Luckily he wasn't hurt at it but the fact that his phone was the one that was sacrificed annoyed him.

His Naoya-nii's songs, which he secretly recorded when he sang to him one time, were in there. All stored in his phone's memory. The memory card in his phone was also included in the collateral damage so his hopes of salvaging any songs in it and use it on his COMP were immediately crushed.

Standing up from the makeshift bed he made from the spare blankets and pillows he had stored in his storage bag, he made his way through the tombstones of the cemetery and towards the edge of the Concealing Bounded Field. There Kazuya saw the Kobold contracted with him making rounds around the Bounded Field. There were low-level _demons_ lingering the perimeter of the Bounded Field but with the Kobold and the effect of the Bounded Field, they never approached it.

Using his COMP, he saw that the _demons_ were just Pixies, Kobolds and Kabusos, All low level _demons_ that could pose no threat to them. But their numbers…

Kazuya wondered if his Kobold could even stand a chance against the _stray demons_ so he ordered it mentally to attack. That was also a thing. Somehow he could now order the _demons_ they have a contract with using his mind. The same could be with Yuzu and Atsuro.

The Kobold stood no chance against the sheer number of _stray demons_ and vanished in a burst of light. Kazuya's COMP then made a sound and showed the 'Status Screen' of his Kobold. The avatar of the Kobold was darkened and a cross was 'stamped' beside the name. His Kobold's HP bar was empty with the numbers [0/78] beside it as well.

A 'window' was plastered on the Kobold's darkened avatar. [ **Summon Available in: 5 minutes** ]

So there's an allotted time before they could summon their _demons_ after they got defeated. Kazuya wondered if this was the case the first time their group summoned their contracted _demons_. After all, it was almost an hour before Yuzu summoned her Pixie for a test run.

Swiping the COMP he claimed for himself, he took a look at the 'Status Screens' of the _stray demons_ that were loitering the area beyond the Concealing Bounded Field. A Level 7 Ogre was the highest Kazuya saw from the hoard of loitering _stray demons._

Even if he can barrel his way through the hoard, that was not the case for his friends. Yuzu was dead tired from the entire day's ordeal and Atsuro was winded. Given that both of them haven't got any experience dealing with anything _supernatural_ , it was expected for them to be tired. Not to mention that they just had to deal with _demons_ in a **cemetery**. If that wasn't enough to get one freaked out into exhaustion, then Kazuya knew nothing else.

The Priestess – Kuzuryu Amane – was certainly telling the truth that their group would be safe from the _demons_ in the cemetery. But she was from the Shomonkai, a group/cult his Naoya-nii cut ties with. That was enough for him to get suspicious of the cult.

( _that's because they **are** suspicious_ )

However, Kazuya wouldn't make any judgments on her motives. If she had any ulterior plans in saving/aiding their group, Kazuya hoped it was something benign in nature. Besides, his Naoya-nii said that a **person** will be meeting them at the cemetery and that **person** will affect our future activities.

She also said to them before she left about 'remembering their names in the future'. It implies that Kuzuryu-san would need their names, either in making contact with them or referring them to other people. That said, it still would affect them their future activities.

Making his way back to their small camp, Kazuya made one last look at the COMP's applications. His Naoya-nii better reply soon or else he would really make him pay. Going around in circles, skirting his way through the answers and making vague replies to his inquiries.

Just because he's smart enough to decode his Nii-sama's rambling does not he prefers a straightforward conversation with him. Why did he gave them these COMP that were installed with the _Summoning Program_? Why did they encountered mythical monsters like a Kobold, Pixie and a Kabuso? And why did they have to stay in a cemetery in all places?

( _brother was always the one who makes the plans work you know, its his 'department'_ )

Not to mention the other curious things about the [PROFILES] and the newly discovered [COMPENDIUM] applications. The 'Compendium' was where he realized that the _demons_ they summoned and encountered were from myths and legends. A German Fairy that gave the ore Cobalt its name, an English Fairy known for pranks and tricks, and a Japanese _yokai_ that loves to play tricks as well.

...He should have been familiar with the Kabuso. Kazuya heard of the stories from the visiting _onmy_ _ō_ _ji_ in Tokyo when they arrive at the Abenobashi. The Kabusos were notorious at Ishikawa-ken according to them, especially when their _shikigamis_ were easily torn apart by the _yokai._

Kazuya thought they should replace their rice papers with waterproof ones or Oslo Papers since those were much sturdier but each has their own preferences in the end.

By the time he reached their small encampment, Kazuya was tired enough that he slept soundly as soon as he laid down on the makeshift bed. If he did noticed Yuzu and Atsuro talking when he came back, Kazuya may have disregarded it. His body was screaming to sleep and he wasn't that petty to deny its wants.

* * *

.

_It was dark. That's what he saw after tearing off the blindfold covering his eyes. It also smelled… moldy. Like someone forgot to clean the carpets after a month or two. It hurt his nose but not much that he can't smell other things._

_His mouth also was, strangely, not wrapped with a cloth, which he usually saw in tv shows about kidnappings and ransoms. Yeah, he was kidnapped. Lucky him. For what? He doesn't have a clue._

_Maybe his kidnappers will ransom him off in exchange for money? His parents work in a bank. Other than that, he have no idea._

_Also he couldn't speak, even with his mouth not wrapped with anything. His throat also felt empty so there goes his idea of something lodged in his throat. But he felt something familiar with his strange silence._

_...Silence! Of course he was under a [Silence] spell. It was magic he was feeling. Good thing his brother taught him last week about the various 'Status Effects' he encountered before. One was the [Silence] 'Status Effect', a very basic yet underrated 'Status Effect'._

_From what he remembered, most magicians he and his brother met rarely use a [Silence] spell on their opponents, whether its a fellow magician or a magical creature. His brother taught him how to 'silence' the source of magic of his opponent using his own magic. Something about 'using the ancient common tongue for the best results'._

_He also taught him the [Amrita] spell, a necessary spell his brother said he would need since it cures **any** ailment. Too bad that its only applicable to ailments that the body identifies as 'harmful' otherwise cancer and other sickness mankind knew could be cured of. Channeling the [Amrita] spell internally, since the [Silence] only prevents the user to 'externally' release their magic and as a side-effect their speech as well, he cured his silence._

_"...Ah."_

_Internally channeling his spells were tricky since it can fail at times, but his brother said 'practice makes perfect'. Or something similar to that. Nevertheless, he must keep practicing to channel his magic internally._

_For good measure, he tried using the other 'type-specific spell' he had. [Dekunda] was something his brother introduced to him. It was said to remove any suppressors on the person it was used on so he used it to remove anything that his [Amrita] missed._

_Now that he removed any 'Status Changes' on his person, he could see that the room he was in was big enough to be classified as their living room. Rising up from the bed he was on, he noticed he was in a bedroom of sorts. His kidnappers sure have a weird taste in decoration since the curtains of the windows were dusty and were in shades of black._

_He was about to look out the window and see if he could recognize anything outside when the door to the room he was in slammed open. It revealed two people wearing strange clothes and were waving sticks at him. The lady – she was had long hair up to her back – waved her stick at him and a strange light flew at him._

_Scared and surprised, he immediately used [Makarakarn] to reflect the light. The light screamed magic to him so he used the 'magic shield' his brother taught to him. Thankfully he did because when the light bounced, it hit the wall and made a small hole that was smoking._

_He was shocked by the hole the light made that he didn't noticed the lady sent another light at him. He then saw nothing afterwards._

* * *

.

Another of _those_ again.

( _it was about 6 years ago_ )

The light from the sun was shining from the horizon, its light hitting his face causing him to wake up. If the dream wasn't enough to wake him up then the light from sun did the job for it.

Opening the COMP – he left it on standby because if he turned it off, his Kobold will get unsummoned – he saw his Kobold was still alive and probably making rounds around the perimeter of the Bounded Field. Yuzu and Atsuro were still asleep in their respective makeshift beds with their COMPs on standby mode beside them.

Taking a moment to stretch out his arms and legs, he noticed that his COMP had an e-mail. Particularly, one from his Naoya-nii and one from The Observer. He opened his Nii-sama's e-mail first. The Laplace Mail can wait until Yuzu and Atsuro read theirs.

* * *

**From:** NAOYA

 **Subject:** Death Clock

Kazuya, you're awake by now, right? I'm sorry if I wasn't able to reply to your e-mail last night. Sorry.

Starting off with something important, I'm sure you have heard of the Laplace Demon right? If not, which I highly doubt so, then ask Atsuro to jog your memory. The Laplace Mail wasn't called by itself for a reason, right?

I checked this… 'Observer', who sent you three the Laplace Mail. I, too, received one yesterday so don't be surprised that I searched for it myself.

Just like what we initially thought, this 'Observer' is an anomaly. There's no trace of where the Laplace Mails came from nor how it arrived to our inboxes, as if these e-mails just popped up out of nowhere. I recommend you and Atsuro to search for anything about this... 'Observer' and tell me of your findings.

I'll be doing my own research here as well.

…

I swear if you are thinking about Divine Intervention I'll personally punch you in the gut. Don't be an ass, brother.

Anyway, why I gave you three those COMPs? Safety measures, that's all. That Shomonkai Priestess, Kuzuryu-san, gave me a heads up yesterday morning about how their… cult was going to implement their plans for their retreat here in Tokyo.

Given their reputation, its something the Ministry and any magical here in Japan would give attention to. Especially the last time they had a retreat at Osaka... Well, there's a reason why a certain part of the a park there is now closed off for good.

Remember the Mahōtokoro Incident? That one time you persuaded me to visit that school with you and Gabriel and some… terrible things happened? I suspect the Shomonkai had something to do with it but I can't really prove it.

Nevertheless, I gave you three those COMPs so you can protect yourselves. If I startled you three that afternoon, once again I apologize.

Kuzuryu-san sent me an e-mail last night about meeting a Minegishi at Aoyama Cemetery. Good thing you met her. She was there to stop one of their members from summoning a _demon_ for various reasons. But based on your e-mail earlier and hers, she had failed.

I'm running out of space to type so let's talk when we meet up somehow today or later in the evening. Try to find a way to escape the Yamanote Loop if possible. If not then please be safe.

Oh, before I forgot. I suspect you can see the Death Clocks after you received the Laplace Mail yesterday. It happened to me yesterday as well. From what I can get from the system files of the application, it somehow… 'hacked' its way into the programming of the _Summoning Program_ and used a part of its rituals for itself.

I found a copy in the _Demon Summoning Program_ so I guess anyone with the program may get the Death Clock function as well. What a load of crap.

Back to the point. Using the source of the Laplace Mail as its basis, the Death Clock calculates the life expectancy of a person in terms of days. However, since this _is_ based on the Laplace Mail and its source, we can say that it can be altered. It may predict the outcome but its not written in stone.

According to my analysis, the Death Clock can only be seen by the 'party leader' if you are in a group or if you're alone. Since it 'hacked' and used the rituals for itself, its a magical illusion that can be seen by only those who have magic or at least have used the _Demon Summoning Program_. I presume your the 'party leader' of your group, since you asked me about the Death Clock.

I have nothing else more to say so I'll be waiting for your replies soon.

Be safe Kazuya.

P.S. Tell Atsuro that 'Senpai already noticed you but not in the way you want him to notice you'. You know what I meant.

* * *

.

Interesting.

That his Naoya-nii actually made a very long and detailed explanation of things, although it just made a couple more of questions for him to ask, was very interesting. His Naoya-nii most likely knew how the Shomonkai got their hands on _demons_ and subsequently the _Demon Summoning Program_ in the first place. If the last conversation he overheard last week wasn't proof…

The e-mail alerts woke up Yuzu, causing her to rise up and yawn. Stretching her arms, Yuzu muttered something about 'left, right and wrong'. Atsuro, on the other hand, was still drooling on his blanket and still clutching the strap of his bag where his laptop was kept in.

Grabbing a couple of bread rolls from his bag and some water, he shook Atsuro up and handed Yuzu the food and water he had on his person.

"Hey, Atsuro. Wake up. Its morning. Hey~" Atsuro stayed asleep. With a sigh, he cast a low powered Bufu on Atsuro, instantly waking the black haired teen up.

"Wh-What in the world!?"

( _though a Zio would be appropriate, it would be a jerkass move_ )

That worked. And Yuzu seemed to be wide awake now, and judging by her blinking stares at Atsuro's state, she saw the entire thing from the start.

"Well, I guess that was _one_ way to get him up" Yuzu muttered, biting on the dinner roll. "I didn't knew you could use Bufu in that way."

"It's how you… uh… manipulate, yes, manipulate the spell. Visualization and all. As long as you knew the basics, you can play around with it. Just like how we had some water to freshen up or selves? By the way, there's a basin on the top of that grave," Kazuya remarked, pointing to a grave with a basin on top. "Go wash up your face there."

"It is weird and creepy for us to use a graveyard as a campsite. We even used a grave as a table for washing up."

"Correction: It's a cemetery. Not a graveyard. A graveyard is all land with crosses everywhere."

"Whatever."

Yuzu is really not a morning person.

( _brother on the other hand..._ )

"M-Must you really do that?" Atsuro asked, shaking off the excess ice that was on him when he woke up. "Really, Kazu?"

"Hey, it worked, right? Besides, we must move now. The Priestess said the barrier is only valid until sunrise and look its already morning."

"I know. But… Did you really have to do that?"

"...Nope," Kazuya replied, popping the 'p' of the word. "It wasn't necessary but I still did it."

Atsuro released a sigh. "Anyway, where's Yuzu?"

"I'm right here Atsuro. Here, take the dinner roll." Yuzu then threw a dinner roll at the black-haired teen. "Go wash your drool, Atsuro. There's an extra basin for you over there."

"Okay," Atsuro said. He then left the two, leaving Yuzu to clean up her blankets and pillows. Kazuya also did the same for his and Atsuro's.

As he was packing up their things from their little encampment in the cemetery, Yuzu suddenly spoke up. "Um… Kazu, why is your hair blue at the back?"

"What?"

"At first I thought it was just black but when I made a second look, its… blue-er? There," Yuzu said, pointing to a part of Kazuya's back. She made her way to Kazu, carrying the blankets and pillows with her. Yuzu laid them down and ruffled Kazuya's hair at the back of his head.

"...Here. This part is blue-er than the rest." Yuzu then moved her finger across his head. "And… It makes it way around your head. Wow. Its really blue at the roots but it gets blacker as it goes up. Strange."

"Oh. You meant that," Kazuya remarked as he packed the last pair of blankets and pillows back to his bag. "I noticed it back at Junior High. It's really not noticeable, right? Unless you really looked at it, you won't notice my hair is getting blue at the roots."

"How did that happened?"

"I have no idea. I think it happened when I was… 12? 13? I forgot."

( _actually it started at August 15_ )

"Oh, so its all natural?" Yuzu asked. "It is possible you will get blue hair later and people who don't know its natural will say you dye it."

"Its normal for people who have magic in their blood, Yuzu. Its is actually a fact that hair is usually a conduit of magical abilities and the change in color meant that their magic is strong enough to affect one's physical appearance."

"...Conduit?"

"It's like a tool. A tube. Much like you use a straw to sip soda from a can, Yuzu." Atsuro called out loud as he approached the two. "So your hair _actually_ turned blue huh. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me when I was at your place during Junior High. You really have no idea?"

Kazuya nodded and picked up his COMP. "Yeah, I really have no idea how it turned blue. I suspect Naoya-nii have an idea since his was actually black before it turned… silver? White?" He shook his head. "Anyway, I think its normal for our family, since Naoya-nii's hair changed when he was 11. Mom told me how she freaked out when Naoya-nii's hair slowly turned silver when he came back at home."

"...I can't imagine Naoya having black hair."

"Me too Atsuro. He looks creepier if he did."

"Hey!" The two teenagers exclaimed at the same time. Kazuya and Atsuro then looked at each other and laughed.

"Anyway, I think Naoya-nii sent you two e-mails. The alerts actually woke you up. Also the… Laplace Mail arrived."

* * *

**From:** The Observer

 **Subject:** Laplace Mail

Good morning.

Here is today's NEWS.

1\. Power outages will **continue** in all parts of Tokyo within the Yamanote loop throughout the entire day. It is unknown when power will be restored.

2\. Poisonous gas is suspected to have escaped from underground pockets. All trains services are canceled across all lines. All exits from within the Yamanote loop will be closed.

3\. Rumors of **monsters** appearing in Tokyo will start spreading before the day ended.

4\. At 13:00 in Chiyoda-ku Bunkyo, a localized blizzard will occur. At least three victims will be **murdered** by a snowman. The victims so suffered from extreme frostbite and hypothermia before succumbing to their injuries.

HaVE a nICE daY.

* * *

.

After they read the e-mails and consequently caused Yuzu and Atsuro to freak out, Kazuya calmed the two down by explaining his point.

"Guys, I know Naoya-nii's explanations were quite… short in your e-mails but I guess he spent most of his time typing mine. Anyway, this Death Clock? Its only a prediction, much more like the Laplace Mail. Actually, Atsuro."

The cap wearing teen was started by Kazuya's sudden shift of attention to him. "What?"

"Did Naoya-nii told you about the Laplace Demon?"

Atsuro took a moment to think and perked up. "Yes. Yes. He did. I searched last night about this Laplace Mail and all I could find is this Laplace Demon. My laptop had an encyclopedia in it. Neat little thing, right? "

"Ugh. Another demon," Yuzu groaned and rolled her eyes. "Why must these _demons_ do this to us?"

"...Yuzu, its not an actual _demon_ but an idea. More like a personification of an idea. The idea is what if there's someone who can see how things will happen by actually observing every possible action and reaction. That is the Laplace Demon. The so-called _demon_ that can see what will happen cause he can see how it will happen."

"So basically it can saw the future? And this… Laplace Mail is the result..?" Yuzu asked.

"Essentially. But think about this way, this is just a theory made by people. If everything has been determined already by this… _demon_ , they why are we even thinking and choosing our own actions? Its still a theory," Kazuya explained.

"Uggh! I can't stand this all talk! Let's go home for now! I don't want to remember that I'm supposed to die today!"

"...We can only hope so. The e-mail said that all exits are closed off," Atsuro spoke. "Even the roads are implied to be closed down."

"Hey Atsuro. Naoya-nii told us to find an exit for ourselves while he deals with these Shomonkai and other _demon_ stuff. It just screams that there _is_ an exit. We just have to find one!"

"Whatever. Hey, you two. I'm getting out of here. There aren't any _demons_ outside and that Priestess said we should move out when daybreak comes," Yuzu stated out loud as she grabbed her COMP and pink sling bag from the top of the grave they were sitting and moved towards the cemetery exit.

"You two coming or what?"

"Coming!"

* * *

.

The three of them made their way out of the cemetery and found no _stray demons_ on their way. Kazuya chucked it up to the fact that the Wendigo probably collected its minions early in the morning before daybreak and went somewhere else. It was probably safe, for now.

But the scene they arrived at Omotesando didn't gave them the feeling of safety. Vehicles were littered at the road, making it hard to cross the street, and broken windows of shops and buildings were the sight the three arrived to. Curiously, people were absent, making the entire scene a scenario from a Zombie Film.

"Where are the people? And the accidents! What could have caused this?" Yuzu exclaimed.

"Well it was for sure that this wasn't a result of the blackout," Atsuro said. "The cars have their own batteries that supply their own electricity."

"Also look at the windows," Kazuya said, pointing towards the shops around Omotesando. "If its not smashed, its looted."

"...You're implying that _demons_ caused the accidents? What about the people? Where are they?"

"...Probably at the nearest station? I'm not thinking of them being dead since last night Kuzuryu-san was here along with some of the Shomonkai," Kazuya replied as he skittered around a trashed car on the sidewalk.

( _a wide area repairing charm would do the trick but it would attract way too much attention_ )

"Man, whoever drove this one surely was drunk or else," Atsuro remarked, jumping over the hood of a car that was blocking their way. "So what you're saying Kazu is that the Shomonkai probably chased off the _demon_ that caused this trouble without the people noticing?"

"Basically."

"Ugh, so what are these Shomonkai anyway?" Yuzu groaned, jumping around the fallen bikes and stranded cars that were in their way. "Are they superheroes or what? And I think I saw that girl had a COMP with her last night."

"Wait. What did you say?"

Glancing up from the rubble she was jumping to avoid, Yuzu spoke, "I said I think I saw her holding a COMP on one hand. Why?"

"Huh…. That surely makes sense why she can match the Wendigo last night." Kazuya then jumped the last fallen bike before reaching the alleyway that acts as a shortcut towards Shibuya Station. "She probably had a _Harmonizer_ with her, right?"

( _or she was just that good but the possibility is too damn low_ )

"That makes sense. Hey, we're almost there Yuzu!"

"Ugh, just wait a minute. I think I scraped my knee." Yuzu's hand then glowed a bright light and the small wound around her knee healed up quickly. "There. I think I got the hang of this magic stuff. Coming!"

* * *

.

"-logizing about the emergency blockade. Poisonous gas leaks are suspected to have been leaked out underground around the Yamanote Loop. For your safety, all train exits are closed temporarily until the issue has been solved. We also apologize for erecting blockades at the roads for quarantine purposes. I repeat, we sincerely apologize for..."

"Then how are we going to get to our jobs?! Last night the trains weren't working and the roads were full of checkpoints! What is _really_ happening here?!"

"I repeat, we sincerely apologize-"

"To hell with this!"

The two of them decided to back away from the angry mob outside the Shibuya Station and the blockade made by the JSDF at the roads. Kazuya saw some were climbing over the fences made but were caught immediately by the soldiers guarding.

"Some people wearing orange colored robes told us to leave Omotesando! There was a mad man there and he caused so much accidents! How could we go back there?"

"I'm sorry about it Ma'am but we can't allow anyone to leave the perimeter. It was already a hard task for us to set up the blockades after the reports last night about an explosion happening at one of the power grids here in Shibuya."

Another soldier then announced, "If you have any news about the said explosion last night, we would be glad to receive it from anyone. We are also investigating on that situation since it was suspected it caused the gas leaks to occur. I repeat, If you have..."

"Yuzu, let's go. We can't find a way to get out from here," Kazuya said. Even though many were already caught and 'thrown back' outside the stations, some were still climbing over the fences and blockades. It is useless since the soldiers were adamant on sticking with their orders.

"It seemed that the e-mail predictions were true after all. At this rate, we'll never get home!" Yuzu complained. She reached into her pink sling bag and drank from a water bottle. "And I'm hungry now. We only had dinner rolls an hour ago and its not a very filling breakfast."

"How about we go and check out if there are any blind spots from the JSDF blockades? They couldn't have established the blockades that fast if they only received the reports of the explosion last night. Didn't it happened around 21:00?" Kazuya asked. It would be strange of the JSDF made their blockades _that_ fast unless they already knew…

( _there's something else at the top of the station and the buildings past the lines_ )

The green-eyed teen shook his head. The idea the JSDF would prepare containment instead of dealing with the threat beforehand is appalling that its laughable.

"Yeah. I agree with Kazu. Naoya said that the Laplace Mail is just a prediction, right? They there's a chance that it won't happen," Yuzu said. She was already sitting down at the ground underneath a tree and stretching out her arms. Her COMP was in her arms and she was tinkering with it. People coming from the Station soon found a spot for themselves underneath the shades of the tree at the nearby park at Shibuya Station.

All of them have a number 7 on top of their heads. Only the he, Yuzu and Atsuro – who was on his laptop and checking out the system files of his COMP – had a _zero_ on their Death Clocks. The sight didn't gave Kazuya a happy feeling, at all.

"...You may have a point there Yuzu. You see I was checking the files in my laptop-" "So that's why you were silent for an hour when we were at the Station." "I'm talking here Yohoo," "Hey!" "Anyway, I was checking and and I noticed that the algorithms of the two applications were similar and it was responding to the variables given by-"

"Ugh! Atsuro! Get to the point! I'm still thinking about the idea of we are supposed to die today in an unknown way!"

"Okay! The Death Clock solely depends on the Laplace Mail's predictions. If we find a way to make the Laplace Mail's predictions fail, then the Death Clock's predictions would fail too. As it is, it's only a _prediction_ on the person's life expectancy. It only predicts, it only guesses. And guesses can either be correct or not, right?" Atsuro explained.

"In other words, find an exit and get home. The Laplace Mail said all exits are closed off so if we can find one that is open, the prediction was wrong and the Death Clock was actually giving a wrong prediction."

"So that means… We don't have to die today?!" Yuzu perked up and stood up on her legs. "We actually had a chance? We won't be like Naoya's neighbor, right?"

"Yes."

"Then let's go. We have to check out _ALL_ exits and we have about… 4 hours before lunchtime," Yuzu said as she placed her COMP back into her bag and dusted and wiped herself off of any dust. "Come on. I hope there are open stores within the city. I'm starving."

Kazuya and Yuzu was about to leave the place when Atsuro gasped from his position. He nearly tripped over his feet but he managed to save himself from falling by grasping a railing.

"What in the world? Atsuro?" Kazuya asked. Atsuro was gaping like a _koi_ in a feeding session with his mouth open wide. Yuzu waved her hands in front of Atsuro but the teen with the cap didn't gave her actions any heed.

"That's… That's Kaido of the Shibuya Daemons!" Atsuro then pointed to a group of men and women at a part of the park wearing clothes that are fit for people who belong to a gang. There was a man there wearing jogging pants and a jacket appropriate for exercise, which was the person Atsuro was pointing at.

"Another _demon_?" Yuzu complained. Kazuya laughed at Yuzu's remark.

"Wh-What did I say?"

"Yuzu, its da-e-mon. Not _de-mons._ Its the name of their group. They're a famous gang that acts as the guardians/caretakers of Shibuya. You remember Mochizuki-sensei from Atsuro's Junior High?"

Kazuya remembered Mochizuki-sensei. When he and Yuzu visited Atsuro's school back when they were in Junior High, it was the brand new school nurse who helped them find Atsuro. Since then Mochizuki-sensei treated them as if they were her patients whenever they went to visit Atsuro.

"Hm… I think I do remember her. Wasn't she his Junior High's school nurse?" Yuzu asked. "What does she have to do with those… Daemons?"

"Her boyfriend and his brother were the leaders of the Daemons. Also I heard she used to be a member of it, if the rumors on the internet were to believed. Anyway, the Shibuya Daemons are known to be a very helpful gang. Maybe we can ask them for help in finding a way out of here?" Atsuro said.

Kazuya can agree with Atsuro's statement. He heard from his Gabe how there's a gang that acts like a gang but isn't a gang at all. He compared the Shibuya Daemons to an Independent Organization or a vigilante group. It is also a good thing to ask for their help when you know you _really_ need help.

( _that's the way people work, unity, altruism and_ _camaraderie_ )

Besides, the police sometimes weren't that enthusiastic in doing their jobs. And by the lack of police presence at the stations, Kazuya can say that the rumor was actually the truth.

( _and since **when** did they were helpful at all? brother was the one who has to do all the work when **they**_ _came back again_ )

In a situation like this where they are prevented from leaving the Yamanote Loop and a threat to their lives, they _really_ need all the help they can. But there's one thing he don't understand…

"Um… Atsuro?" Kazuya spoke. "Isn't your house inside the Yamanote Loop? At Akasaka-ku?"

"...You know how I don't really call it as my home, Kazu. But I see your point. We have a place to crash at if we can't really get out from here." Atsuro then shook his head. "Let's go ask them."

Atsuro then left them to approach the Daemons, leaving Yuzu and Kazuya to follow him. Kazuya can hear Atsuro was already in a conversation with the leader of the group by the time he and his redhead best friend arrived.

"If I did, ya think we'd be here?"

"Oh."

Kazuya then interrupted their conversation. "Sorry, we were just trying to ask if someone found a way out. My brother said there could be one but he couldn't help us find it since he was busy with other things. By the way, I'm Minegishi Kazuya. This blockhead over here is Kihara Atsuro and the gal beside us is Tanikawa Yuzu."

"Nikaido Tadashi. Call me Kaido. Leader of the Shibuya Daemons. Your brother said there's a potential exit from this place? Everyone's here in the same boat… Things are pretty bad around here, so anything that could help would be a lot," Kaido said in a gruff manner. He surely doesn't want waste anymore time.

"Yeah, his name is Minegishi Naoya. Here, this is what he looks like." Kazuya then pulled out his cellphone and produced a picture of his Nii-sama. "If doesn't bother you guys, if you somehow find him, please tell him his brother is looking for him."

"Yeah, yeah, send that picture to us. When the cell phones come back up, we can send it to our fellow Daemons to find him. Also, to search out this exit your brother told you about. If it does exists, well… we all know who we are going thank for, right?" Kaido said.

"Thanks a lot. We'll try to find it as well. Good luck to you guys!"

"Well, they were helpful. Genuinely helpful," Yuzu said as she looked back at the group from their location. "At least if they could find an exit, they could tell the others."

* * *

Part 2

Omotesando was clear of rubble and wrecked cars when they returned to it from Shibuya. The people who came from the Station grudgingly returned to the places where they came from, mainly their apartments and houses. From what Yuzu can see from the windows of the apartments, they were just lounging in their rooms and entertaining themselves by doing various stuff.

Like hanging out their pillows and blankets on the railings.

Shop owners, on the other hand, went to open their shops in case their patrons may come and do some shopping. Although the clutter made by the so-called 'mad man' that caused accidents the night before were cleaned by the community, there were still trash left that could dissuade their patrons from coming. So the shop keepers and the workers who slept in their shops were sweeping and cleaning the broken glass of their shops and preparing their wares.

Thankfully the three of them managed to beat the _demons_ that were lingering the area around Omotesando. Batches of Kabuso, Kobolds, Pixies and an occasional Ogre were the _demons_ they fought along the way towards Omotesando. Despite unwilling to fight the _demons_ herself, she couldn't disagree with her best friends' idea of saving other people from danger when they could at least protect them.

Yuzu knew that she had the ability to do it but honestly she wanted nothing with it. Sure she seemed to have a knack in using the magic 'installed' by the COMP to her, but it came with the danger of fighting _demons_. However, she knew that people will get injured or killed when they met a _demon._

Along with the reminder Atsuro kept reminding them about the [Harmonizer] that allows them to match the _demons_ on the same ground, the _demon's_ attacks could be instantly fatal when it hit a person without a [Harmonizer].

The fighting they did made her hungry and the others as well so they decided to check a shop where they could get some food. Yuzu herself chose a good looking cafe, to which Atsuro and Kazu gave her a strange look. She paid it no mind since Yuzu was sure the other two would agree to pay the slightly expensive tag price when they tasted it.

Kazu covered both of them when they were done eating. She knew Kazu was rich enough to pay the entire menu of the cafe thrice over but he just chose to be somewhat practical in spending it. Yuzu connected it to his parents' job as bankers.

Still, it was a surprise to Yuzu to find at least a part of Omotesando active, even if they have to deal with the noise done by the electric generators just to supply the needed power for the establishments. What she didn't expect was to encounter Gin at the cafe they went into.

Gin immediately honed into her as soon as he came inside the Blue Bottle Coffee Cafe. Yuzu immediately went into reminiscing the times she had with the 'unofficial manager' of the best indie singer in today's Japan music industry.

"You two knew each other?" Kazuya asked them while he was munching on a cinnamon roll he bought. Atsuro was busy stuffing his face with the pasta Kazuya bought for him while charging up his laptop and COMP at an electric socket.

That reminds her to charge the COMP as well, since the… _special_ application eats up a large chunk of its battery.

"This is Gin, the 'unofficial' manager and persona guardian of this one indie singer I love listening to. She's pretty new but her songs are amazing. Her name is Haru and I think you have a couple of her songs in you player," Yuzu explained. "Gin is amazing. His 'guardianship' over Haru extends as well to her fans so everyone considers him as a big brother."

"You flatter me, Yuzu. So are these two your friends? We haven't met yet, right?" Gin asked Kazuya and Atsuro, who went extended his laptop charger to reach their small table from the socket.

"I think so but maybe Kazu here may have went to one of Haru's shows. He's a music addict, if his 'cat ears' aren't any indication. Oh! The guy with the 'cat ears' is Minegishi Kazuya while the one who's clutching on his laptop like it was dying is Kihara Atsuro."

Atsuro stood up from the table and defended himself. "Hey! My laptop is **_literally_** dying here because she ran out of juice!". He then shifted his attention to Gin. "Kihara Atsuro, nice to meet you."

Kazuya reached out his hand. "Minegishi Kazuya, nice to meet you Gin-san."

"Heh. Kamiya Eiji but call me Gin. I have a bar nearby that's open on everyday starring at 7 pm until 5 am. The bar should have been open last night but I came late since I was with Haru the whole day. She had some… problems with her new album."

"That's sad. Well, Haru can get over this roadblock right? Just like how her mentor's band broke up..," Yuzu sadly spoke. "It was a very big deal when their group D-VA broke up. Their lead singer Aya left the band because she went to music school. It was actually received well by their fans, including me, but news came that said she disappeared one day from her music school." She then looked out of the windows of the cafe with a sad smile and continued. "Everyone was shocked at the news and thought it was just a hoax. But... The band made a statement the next day about her disappearance and about the various complications done by her schooling and her recent disappearance. It was hard for Haru, who was following Aya's footsteps by training under her, since she lost her mentor."

"Haru took up the mantle of being D-VA's lead vocalist, even though its only for a short while. Many expected much from her, since she was Aya's 'apprentice', but their expectations weren't met. They say the quality of the band's songs went astray, thus leading to the loss of fans and patrons. The group then broke off because 'why should they stay when the group evidently became a _flop_ after Aya disappeared," Gin solemnly said. "Haru took it hard but she couldn't ignore her calling to music, especially when Aya left her legacy to her 'apprentice'. So I helped her, became her manager and produced her album. People _actually_ adored her solo status, but I guess that's because she's a _solo artist_."

He then shook his head and gestured at the scene outside the cafe. Street cleaners were cleaning up the trash left over from the general cleanup done by the residents.

"If Haru were here, maybe she could find inspiration about the mess outside the cafe. She needs to get her bearings back. Yesterday was the day Haru last met Aya, back when she gave her a gift before she went to music school," Gin remarked.

"Oh... Yesterday was a special day for Haru huh... I hope she is okay," Yuzu commented as she drank from her glass of juice.

"I really hope so. Anyway, imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to find the power gone and water and gas limited. Good thing that my bar and apartment got a generator for these occasions. I'm still mad about the spoiled milk and food in my refrigerator but what can you do," Gin said. "Also, I heard that there was a maniac here last night that caused a ruckus when the blackout happened. People went hiding in the buildings and ignored the noise being caused by the said maniac."

"Yeah. I heard about it from the people at Shibuya Station," Yuzu said. "Since Kazu here is planning to go back to Setagaya from Shinjuku Station, we decided to go to Shibuya Station first. The JSDF barricaded the entire station and blocked all exits, including roads and train tracks."

"They say some poisonous gas has been released underground and may be dangerous to people. So they closed the stations to prevent the gas to leak and the roads to 'quarantine' the area. What gets me is why they explicitly said 'the entire Yamanote Loop'?" Kazu asked as he sat down and charged up his COMP at the electric socket beside him, which Atsuro apparently didn't noticed.

"Hey, would you mind charging mine too Kazu?" She then handed her COMP and the accompanying charger from her sling bag.

Gin, on the other hand, had an expression of disbelief and disappointment. "What? You must be pulling my leg here. The station's locked down, even the roads and no one's getting through?"

"Yeah, its annoying but what's _really_ annoying is that our cellphones aren't even working. Even the COMP's email function isn't working properly," Atsuro complained from his seat. "People are demanding the **exact** reason why there's a quarantine in the first place and the information blackout isn't really helping."

"What's wrong with the COMPs Atsuro? Last night and this morning we received an e-mail from Kazu's brother so why it isn't working anymore?"

"That's the thing. It _is_ working but the server used by Naoya-nii's e-mails were a different one. It seemed to be unable to connect to other COMPs sold to the public," Kazuya explained and gestured towards the road outside the cafe. "I tried to e-mail and connect to the internet a while ago to see if there's anything posted on the net, since Naoya-nii sent us three an e-mail this morning, but I can't connect."

Gin's voice the interrupted their small conversation. "Well if you say that the JSDF were already there, then at least the government is on it already. Give it time and the problem will be solved soon." He then walked towards the attendant at the counter. "I'll just be buying a cup of coffee and then go back to my bar. If the power gets back this evening, then the bar should be ready for my customers. If you kids need anything, I'll just be there. Ask Yuzu for the directions."

The attendant immediately went on making Gin's coffee and in a minute after he ordered it, a hot steamy cup of coffee was handed to him. "Keep safe you three. See you later."

"Bye Gin" "Bye." The vest wearing man then left the cafe, leaving the three alone in it.

"...6."

"What did you say Kazu?"

"The number above his head is 6. So were the other people at the Station and everybody we met until now. Including the lady at the counter," Kazuya said. He then pulled the chargers of the COMPs out of the sockets and handed it to Yuzu.

"Come on, we should be going now. We have a lots of Stations to check and last time I check there were **9** stations on the west side of the Yamanote Loop. Should we choose a few since we really _can't_ check them all?"

"Hm... Ikebukuro at the north, Ebisu at the south, Shinjuku and Harajuku at the middle. Those four are the only stations that I know of that can connect to the Keiō Train Lines to Setagaya-ku," Atsuro said as he stuffed his laptop in his bag.

"So we start from the bottom then to the top? I want to try and get a shower or bath at your house so we might as well go to Akasaka later," Yuzu said. "Ugh, this just reminds me that the Stations are so far away from one another."

"Then should we hire a taxi? Or rent a bike? I can ride a bike," Kazuya interjected, causing Atsuro and Yuzu to give him a strange look. "Hey! You just said that the Stations are so far away and there's a chance the bus lines won't be active since all major roads are closed off from the outside. That means we either must walk or find a different mode of transportation."

"...Sometimes I hate when you mind comes up with these strange ideas," Yuzu sighed as she turned on her COMP. "...You still have extra yen for renting a couple of bikes for us three?"

* * *

.

Good thing there was an open bike shop at Omotesando, which was found at a back alley and was hidden from main streets. They were actually lucky to find it when they turned around the corner of the small cafe. Kazu had enough yen for the three bikes so their dilemma of finding mode of transportation was now solved.

But Atsuro small comment on how he forgot to ride a bike was _actually_ true. So they spent a couple of minutes to help Atsuro get the hang of riding a bike a second time and soon they managed to teach him how to ride it again. After that small problem was solved, she and her best friends then rode their bikes towards Ebisu Station through the main roads.

Along the way, Yuzu noticed the number of cars and other vehicles stranded on the roads. Since the JSDF also closed the roads passing through/over/under the train tracks of Yamanote Loop, the cars clogged the roads. Kazu, the smart ass, remarked how he correctly predicted that they need to have a very slim and light mode of transportation in order to get pass through the traffic.

He should be thankful that she can't hit his smug face since she was busy not to fall over or hit a stranded vehicle along to road. Not to mention the people who were giving them strange looks when they pass by on their bikes. Surely her best friend wasn't the only one who saw the opportunity to use bicycles in order to traverse the streets of Tokyo?

When they arrive at Ebisu Station, the same scene they saw at Shibuya Station was the scene they arrived to. The three just turned their bikes around and made their way north, still following the Yamanote Loop train tracks as a guide to the Stations on the Western side of the Line. Strangely, Yuzu expected _demons_ to come out from the alleys on their way.

But thankfully, the _demons_ weren't in the mood to attack them no any of the people stranded. She voiced her confusion to her best friends and the reply she received from them were not surprising. At all.

"When you went to the bathroom at Omotesando an hour ago, we found _demons_ scrambling away from us and were fleeing somewhere north. I think those were the same _demons_ who were following that Wendigo last night. Probably to chase the Priestess, if not running away from her," her green-eyed best friend replied.

"Kazu's guess is also my guess as well. The _demons_ aren't really a problem right now and the Laplace Mail didn't say anything about victims of a monster or animal attack so I would rule out the ' _demons_ attacking people' being a problem now," her jacket wearing best friend replied as well.

Passing by Harajuku and Yoyogi Stations didn't helped as well. How in the world did the government even managed to find soldiers to guard the railways, road and the Stations? Yuzu doesn't know and honestly she fear for the possible answer. Her opinion on the _Summoning Program_ as a way for world peace seemed to be not so impossible anymore.

Especially when she honestly thought the JSDF couldn't bother to dispatch soldiers to guard train tracks and train stations.

The stranded people weren't even helping, too. They were angry and pissed off that even an old lady tried to pull her away from her best friends. Apparently for her sake, which is - in her opinion - far from the old lady's business.

When they arrived somewhere near Shinjuku Station - at Shinjuku Musashinokan precisely-, Kazu left them, claiming he wanted to check Gabe. The station was across the rail track and road to the station was barricaded by the JSDF. Atsuro was confused by Kazu's action so she took upon her the responsibility of bring Atsuro up to date.

"Kazu and I went here yesterday while you were working on you laptop. We met this guy who works at Shinjuku as a... male escort. Don't give me that look Atsuro, I don't go to those bars even if some of our classmate try to persuade me to come with them," Yuzu said as she sat down on a railing across the street and facing the Shinjuku Station. People were avoiding the station in Shinjuku, claiming that poisonous gases escaped from the station and it may cause them to endanger their health.

"Gabe was a friend of his brother for almost... uh... I forgot but it was a long time. That's why Kazu was friends with him since he apparently spent time with him."

"...Does this guy have brown hair and was sucking on a lollipop by any chance?" Atsuro asked.

Bewildered by the strange question, Yuzu paid it no attention and answered, "Now that you said it, I managed to take a glimpse of him before he went into an alley, leaving Kazu to come back at me. He did have a brownish hair and was sucking on a lollipop."

"That was Gabriel Michaels -he introduces himself the Western way, okay-, a friend of Naoya and also an acquaintance of mine on the internet. We met at one of the forums where I and Naoya frequently talk to and managed to haggle me in talking with him. Long story to be honest but I met him once in a while back at Junior High, thanks to Naoya."

"So he's actually a family friend?"

"I don't know. Probably. Last time I remembered he was working at a department store at Ichi-maru-kyu. He' Naoya's friend from America who went here to get away from his family. I remember him talking it once when he caught me at Shibuya with Kazu back at Junior High."

"...How come I wasn't there?"

"You were at a family outing, if I remember correctly," Kazu's voice was heard from across them, causing both of them to turn around.

Kazu was back and was holding a goodie bag of sorts. "Gabe was there and he was quite busy catching up with some of his friends from America. Fortunately, or unfortunately, they came before the trains went down yesterday at 17:00. Here, he gave me some of his favorite chocolates and candies as an apology."

Yuzu took the goodie bag from the black haired teen and looked inside. There were a couple of American branded chocolates in there and a some candies. "An apology for what?"

"For making me worry for him. I know he was bound to Omotesando last night since he always visits a certain confectionery there every 2nd Sunday of July."

Atsuro munched on a chocolate cereal bar and said, "Because last night there were _demons_ at Omotesando, right? And what's up with Gabe anyway?"

"Yup, good thing he went home before the blackout happened and found his friends at the front of his bar/apartment. They were pissed that he was late. I think Gabe forgot he was receiving visitors that day. By the way, he _has_ an apartment but he prefers to sleep at Naoya-nii's to save on utilities. What a cheapskate." Kazu then shook his head. "Gabe is still the same as always. A sugar addict who thinks he won't get diabetes in his entire life, a cheapskate by staying at Naoya-nii's when he has an apartment for himself - which has a bar he actually owns below -, and doing odd jobs once in a while. Even if he has a bar he owned that supplies him enough money to enjoy his life."

"Uhuh... That's interesting. Anyway, let's go. We still have... uh... two more stations before we reach Ikebukuro. If there's no potential exit there, maybe we can try the Eastern Side?"

"Hm... I still don't get it why other people call the Western Side of the Loop as the 'East Line' when it is the 'west' if we use the north-south-east-west thingy," Kazu said. "Anyway, let's go... Hey, Atsuro! What are you staring at?"

Yuzu then noticed Atsuro was silent after he asked his question a while ago. He was staring at some person across the street who then ran away from them, hiding in the crowd that formed from the stranded people at the Station.

"...Who was that Atsuro? Did you knew him?" Yuzu asked. The person they saw was somewhat familiar, probably a person she met when Kazu and her went to Atsuro's Junior High back then.

"I think that was Keisuke. You know, Takagi Keisuke? That one guy who always stood up against bullies and protect the other students from being bullied. You guys may have seen him once back at Junior High. We became friends when I joined in helping him dealing with other bullies."

"...Maybe? Sorry I can't remember. If you two were close enough to work together, then why didn't we saw him more in High School?" Yuzu asked. It is common for fellow students to keep up with at least each other after graduation, unless something happened that caused the other party to stop in making an effort.

"I guess something really came up when we got into High School. Honestly, I thought he would enroll at our school but he didn't. If we ever meet, I'll try to ask him why and also introduce you guys to him," Atsuro muttered. "Uh... Yuzu? Where's Kazu?"

"Huh?"

The two of them looked around and found the glasses wearing teen sitting at a railing not far from them, engrossed on doing something on his COMP. The green eyed teen was mumbling things they couldn't hear from their position. His expression was a mixture of disbelief and curiosity.

"Oh. There he is. He must have left us," Atsuro remarked. "Did he spaced out again? This is somewhat worrying me now." Yuzu couldn't blame him, Kazu sometimes space out at random times and can get confused on what was the topic they were discussing. A trait she discovered when she was his seatmate at Junior High.

It also lead to her becoming friends with him because she was worried of his... 'spaciness'.

"Me too, Atsuro. He was already like that by the time we met in Junior High. I had to help him in classes when he went into those... sessions." She sighed and wiped her sweat from her forehead. "Was he like this back in Elementary?"

"No. He wasn't like this." Atsuro then paused for a minute, his face deep in thought. "I... Maybe its a bad idea. It's too far-fetched anyway."

"What is it? Tell me."

"...Okay. You see, back when we graduated at Elementary. I remembered he told me he was going to have a trip with his family. A family trip outside Tokyo." He then gestured to his COMP, which was showing Kazu's Profile. "Remember the thing about England yesterday? About the escaped maniac or whatever it was and the deaths? I think it has something to do with him."

"So you're saying he had met this maniac back when we are in Elementary?"

"Possibly. I read that the mind can block things when someone faced extreme trauma. Things like being attacked by a person or having an accident. Usually it comes in the form of unexplainable fear of objects related to the incident but forgetting it completely or amnesia is not uncommon."

"...Which means his occasional blackouts are him unconsciously remembering that forgotten event?"

"Most likely. But we can't do anything at the moment. Let's just be with him, alright? His outburst yesterday was the first time I heard him let out his emotions, Yuzu. For six years, he never really opened up to me how he really was nor talked about his life. Aside from the things we experienced together with him, nothing else. The fact that I was in a different Junior High only made things difficult. Good thing you were there, right?"

"Yeah, you're right. Ever since we met in school, he never really did told me how he was. I had to learn it from second-hand sources, like his parents or asking questions from our teachers. What his favorite food was. What he liked to read. He never told me until he loosened up a few months into the school year. I think that was the time he called me his best friend."

"You said it right. From what you kept on telling me through our e-mails, he was cheerful and always had a smile on his face. I think its a facade or a mask personally."

"You think so? Huh." Yuzu then motioned to approached their friend who was on the other side of the street. "Come on Atsuro, let's get him. We can talk more later at your house."

"Oi. What are you doing there?" Yuzu said as she hopped towards the railing where her best friend was sitting on. Atsuro was following her, towing his bike and hers along with him.

"Huh? Oh, you guys were talking about a Takagi Keisuke, right? Sounds familiar so I looked into the [Profiles] application and there he was. Atsuro, check it out. I'm betting on it available at yours. Yuzu, try yours as well," Kazu chimed in. "I also did some contracting with other _demons_ at the Auction. I'll connect them to your COMPs in a minute."

"I'm still wondering why are you so comfortable in dealing with that kind of stuff. Isn't it strange that you are dealing with _demons_ of all things?" Yuzu inquired. She doesn't really understand why her best friend is alright with the _demons_. They're not humans nor animals and _they_ can easily kill them if it weren't for the [Harmonizer]'s effect around them.

"...I don't really know Yuzu. I do not really know. Unless they try to hurt us in the first place or became a threat to others, I don't see anything wrong with working with them. Besides, the _demons_ that we encounter seemed to be... strange."

"Strange...? What do you mean by that?" Atsuro asked as he opened his COMP and search for the application. "Huh. Keisuke seemed to be in my [Profiles] app. What's with this [Profile] app anyway? Its weird enough that we have demons to deal with but information about us being plastered on an application that can be seen by anyone on the internet is crossing the line already. Thank whatever god out there that the internet is down."

"Haven't you guys noticed that there aren't any _demons_ coming after people except for us? And the fact that some of them ran away from us and seemed to taunt us into following them. If I have to say anything about it, I would think the _demons_ we faced all day were the Wendigo's minions. Remember last night when it called out several more demons when it noticed us with it," Kazu explained as he wiped away some dust from his glasses. "I forgot to ask Naoya-nii about that app, Atsuro, but I think we are the only ones with this application. Naoya-nii would have made a comment in his e-mails last night if my personal info were leaked into the public, given my infamy at England."

"Uhuh... Wait a minute! This is the first time I saw you wearing your glasses after 4 months. Why now?" Yuzu changed the subject immediately since she can't stand to be reminded of her time at the cemetery.

"I somehow forgot to bring my prescribed contacts at home yesterday so this morning was the last time I wore them until I can get the ones at home. The contacts irritate my eyes when I have them for so long, so I took them off and returned to my glasses. Considering that I haven't got my eye drops here and I always have my glasses when these situations comes to play, I decided to wear them." He then took them off and continued. "I can't see anything when I don't have them... well, except for some vague shapes but you get my drift."

"Huh. I always thought that those glasses you wore back at graduation were just for show and weren't graded. You are actually blind without them," Yuzu remarked as she tried on the square framed glasses. "And... wow. That hurts."

"Okay then, since you two are geeking out on Kazu's glasses, I'm just gonna go now and make my way to Ikebukuro."

"Hey! Don't you dare leave us here!"

"Just joking. By the way, didn't we just passed an open McDonald's on the way here? Let's buy a McFlurry before we go."

* * *

.

Ikebukuro was a bust when they reached the station. Or somewhat near the station. Just like at Shinjuku Station, there was a blockade preventing them from getting to the station. JSDF soldiers were posted along the barricade and the fences and blockades on the roads were full of soldiers with guns. People were either milling around or walking towards other places except for the station.

Most seemed to be going at the direction of Sunshine City.

Yuzu expected them to be accosted by _demons_ when they turned around a corner and found an empty parking lot, which would lead them to another road towards the main roads. What she didn't expect was to saw a white owl air diving its way to Kazu, who then gave the owl a hug.

She experienced strange things when she was around Kazu and Atsuro - mainly Kazu though -, ranging from surprise gifts of pudding from his parents, occasional blank stares to clothing 'magicked' to regulate its wearer's body temperature. Yuzu even experienced having to take notes back at Junior High when he and his family had these 'emergency overseas trip'.

Hm... Maybe she'll ask him what were those 'emergency overseas trips' they had. Kazu admitted one time he couldn't remember stuff about those trips back then. She blame it to jet lag, since his father used to complain about not getting enough rest when he came back from his overseas trip.

...Now isn't the time to think about him.

"Uh... What's with the owl Kazu? I know the Ikebukuro Station has an owl statue and owls were once regarded as the mascot of Ikebukuro. I even heard there's a cafe that has lots of owls in it," Atsuro asked as he looked around the station and its nearby locations.

"Yeah, its strange for an owl to air dive and receive a hug from anyone," Yuzu commented. "And its a very white owl. White as snow."

"She's Yukine, Yuzu! She's a pet of one of my acquaintances at Akihabara. She usually hangs around here at Ikebukuro when she isn't being a nuisance at Abenobashi or at the Kanda Shrine. I mean seriously, they love her since she catches all of the mice and rats there. I recall she was given a place at the tea shop and the shrine when she came there. Isn't that right Yuki?"

The owl barked in reply and snuggled itself at the neck of the teen.

"Wow. She's quite a perky one. How and when did you became friends with an owl? She's so friendly with you..." Yuzu then approached the owl who was perching on the shoulder of the glasses wearing teen and it turned it head in her direction. The owl then flew towards her, which made Yuzu to pause her actions. It then made its perch on Yuzu shoulders and proceeded to rest it head on her head.

"And she's friendly to anyone who look friendly enough."

"Oh my gosh! Is that an actual owl?!"

The three of them - and the owl - turned their heads towards the direction where the girlish voice came from and saw a girl in a strange dress. If one could call it a dress, but Yuzu can see the girl was wearing some cycling shorts underneath that very _short_ skirt. Seriously, was she cosplaying when the stations were under a lockdown?

"Uh... Yeah! An actual owl. Her name is Yukine. What's yours?"

"Komaki Midori! You know, Ikebukuro is known for having an owl statue at its center but I never saw a single _real_ owl there. Well except for that cafe nearby but the owls are all sad and gloomy that its..." Komaki-san then released a deep sigh. "Its very gloomy even though the people there are happy to see chained owls... Can I pet her?"

The owl flew from Yuzu's shoulder towards Komaki-san, who then reached out her arm for the owl to perch on. Strangely, the owl's claws weren't sharp to hurt her shoulders and judging from the lack of tears on the sleeves the owl's claws were on, their really dull to do any damage.

"Awww~ Such a beautiful owl. If only my cameras weren't out of juice, I could have made a video of my super duper extra exclusive encounter with the mysterious white owl of Ikebukuro Station!"

Kazu tried to laugh but he kept it hidden by his hands but from the snickers she can hear at her back, he was failing at it. Yuzu can't blame him, she herself can't stop but smile at the cosplaying girl who was busy petting the owl. Its quite refreshing to see a very positive and upbeat person after they met very grumpy and annoyed people all throughout the day.

"Hey... By any chance is the station open? I just came all the way from Shinjuku Station because it was closed and all the following stations after it were closed as well," Komaki-san said.

"Its closed. The same can be said all the way from Ebisu to Ikebukuro Station. We were planning to check the other side of the lines later. By the way, what's with your clothes? Isn't it kinda hard for you to wear that? Considering you came all the way from Shinjuku..." Kazu trailed off. Even the owl seemed to agree with her best friend by making a confused hoot.

"Oh this?" Komaki-san then pointed to her dress. "Well... I was in an event yesterday and I was planning to get back home the same day but the trains closed down at 17:00 yesterday. I wasn't expecting to be stranded here so all I have are just my extra costumes from yesterday's event. Trust me, this one is a much appropriate for outdoor use since the ones I wore at the event were really _not_ appropriate for long exposure."

"Besides, it looks like your normal everyday clothes. Except its a bit more... fancy and stylish, right?" She then made a twirl and a pose, which was somewhat cute on her. Yuzu can agree with her statement, aside from the fact that her skirt was dangerously short but the cycling shorts were a saving point, that it can be seen by others as very special everyday clothes.

"An event huh... So you _were_ cosplaying. Were you at Akihabara yesterday around 13:00?" Kazu asked.

"I was there. But I left around 15:00 so that I could catch the train. My daddy sent me an e-mail that the trains weren't working by the time I made to Ikebukuro so he sent me enough money to stay at a hotel we went to before. He doesn't want me to try going on buses since I had an accident before in one." Komaki-san then threw up the owl up in the air and continued. "Anyway, there were rumors about an exit around the stations so I might as well check out if those really exists. If not then I will just go back to the hotel, I still have extra money for a room until Wednesday. I hope the power gets back on Wednesday so that I could tell my daddy what's my situation right now."

"Yeah, power is a big deal right now. Couple it with our phones getting no reception and all of the telephone lines are dead, all of us are just hoping it will go back," Yuzu said as she saw the owl perched on the owl statue beside them. "You're going now? Bye then. Hope we see you next time."

"Same to you guys! You guys are so cool with me, even the owl, so take care!" Komaki-san then ran off back towards the crowd after she said her goodbyes.

"...That girl is a bundle of energy. I wonder where she get the energy from. Draining it from others, maybe?" Asturo exclaimed as he finally was able to say what he wanted to say. "But she sure looks familiar. Have we seen her before coming to Ikebukuro, Kazu? Yuzu?"

Kazuya then made a loud laugh. Yuzu couldn't help it but join as well because Atsuro, of all people, didn't recognized the famous cosplayer who approached them a while ago.

"Atsuro, that was DOLLY! That camgirl on the internet who also goes to anime and manga conventions. I though you of all people would recognize her at first sight!" Yuzu said as she wiped small tears from her eyes.

"She's popular because aside from her amazing works, she sews her costumes, she's also an amazing video-blogger. That's why even the likes of Yuzu here love her!" Kazuya remarked, earning a pinch to his ear courtesy of one pissed off Tanikawa Yuzu.

"Were you implying something demeaning about me?" She said with a creepy smile. The teen with a pair of headphones shook his head in denial. "I thought so."

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry if I didn't recognized her before. Give me some leeway here," Atsuro retorted. Taking a look at his digital watch, he continued, "Hey, its almost noon. Should we go and have lunch? Pasta isn't really that filling, you know."

"How about we go to you house? It's along the way to the other side of the Yamanote Loop and we can take a rest there. Didn't your parents bought a generator once in case of emergencies? Our COMPs are halfway empty and we know that its the only thing that would allow us to survive any _demon_ attack," Kazu said. He then opened up his backpack and brought out a bag of pastries he bought before at the cafe.

Kazu then threw a bun to the white owl perched atop at the statue beside them. "Here, enjoy you snack. Go back to Tsuki-chan will you? I'm sure she is worried about you now." The owl whistled in reply and flew away. Other people who were around their area wowed at the sight of a flying white owl.

"Didya see that mommy? An owl? There were no birds since this morning mommy. Where did that owl came from mommy?"

Strange. Now that the kid said it, Yuzu noticed there weren't any birds flying around the area. She also now remembered there weren't any birds as well from Aoyama up to Ikebukuro.

"That kid... She noticed there weren't any birds around. Why? Even if Tokyo is a metropolis, we have tree and parks for birds to live in so why aren't there any birds since this morning?"

"I have no idea, Yuzu. Maybe they are spooked by the explosion last night that they flew away?" Kazu said. He handed over a sandwich to her and to Atsuro, which the both of them received. "But that would only apply to those at Aoyama-ku though."

* * *

Part 3

**From:** DS Admin

 **Subject:** Auction Registration

 **Attached:** auct(exe) ; auctREADME(pdf)

We would like to inform you that you have been automatically registered to the Demon Auction House as patron!

Here our clients can make contracts with demons safely, removing the threat of accidents when the said contracting fails. For it our vision to have demons and humans have a stable and working relationship, we provide a safe and easy process for you Demon Tamers to have the demon you want to summon.

The auction houses our service provides use the gathered [Magnetite] your COMPs obtain from battling demons by converting them into [Macca]. [Macca] is the staple currency used in buying, negotiating and selling contracts.

Although there are many demons who sell their contracts using our services, we must inform you that we don't have **all** of the demons on our lines. If you are searching for a specific demon and their contract isn't available in our auction houses, we implore you to use the service of our sister company, Cathedral of Shadows.

Thank you and we'll be expecting you to keep using our services. May you find the demon you covet dearly within our shelves.

For more information, we attached an instructional booklet with this e-mail for you to read at your own pace.

* * *

**From:** DS Admin

 **Subject:** Registration at Cathedral confirmed.

 **Attached:** cath(exe) ; cathREADME(pdf)

We would like to inform you that you have been automatically registered to the services provided by the Cathedral of Shadows.

The Cathedral of Shadows is an organization deeply entrenched in brooking between demons and humans. They, along with the ones who brought to you the Demon Auction House, provide you, the user, to way to find the specific demon you dearly covet.

Using the contracts you have from other demons, The Cathedral of Shadows will provide you the potential demon you may contract with in exchange of the contracts you provide. The services The Cathedral of Shadows provide include the basic negotiating you usually experience at the Demon Auction House.

Here at The Cathedral of Shadows, we do the negotiating for you. Just provide the necessary contracts and we'll 'fuse' them into a single contract with the different demon. It is 100% safe and it won't 'bite you back in the ass' when you use the contracts you have for other demons in 'fusing'.

The Cathedral of Shadows always have the best interests of our demon and human clients so rest assured you are in safe hands. We also include the demons you have summoned as well.

Thank you and we beseech you to use our services as frequent as possible.

For more information, we attached an instructional booklet with this e-mail for you to read at your own pace.

* * *

.

The e-mails the three of them received after he cracked more functions of their COMPs at the cafe, as advised by his mentor, confused Atsuro. He was still bewildered by the sudden change of events for him and the new... installments of their COMPs just gave him a headache.

It was clear the e-mails were written by a third-person party since it wasn't written in any style Naoya would employ in using. Besides, Naoya seemed to be implying he didn't made these applications and he only hid it for Atsuro to crack it later. If that was what Naoya was planning for him to do, he sure did prepared a lot of work for Atsuro to deal with.

His best friend, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be freaking out by the implications their group were facing. They were **summoning** _demons_ to do their bidding and the applications that just got 'installed' allows them to have a more... _diverse_ group of _demons_ to summon from. According to the e-mail he received that morning from Naoya, he gave the modded COMPs to them because there has been an emergency and they would need them along the way.

What he didn't outright told him what kind of emergency it was and what would they use the _Summoning Program_ for. Atsuro had no idea what they would use it for, except for a vague idea of saving other people who _might_ be targeted by _demons_. His best friend's actions implies he may have an idea but just like them, he doesn't have a solid idea on what was the reason.

...But all of those can be discussed when they arrive at his house at Akasaka. They have to first find a way around the city towards his house. It was annoying that, aside from having a bike or a motorcycle, all of them have to walk around the city under the harsh light of the sun.

Not that it would have any effect on _them_. Even in broad daylight, the _demons_ are a bit more... aggressive even after they left the last area where they fought. The Pixies, Kobolds and Kabusos were definitely leading them towards their leader.

Atsuro had a bad feeling about it but he hid it carefully. It wouldn't be a great idea, since Yuzu was clearly uncomfortable with fighting. She's amazing with the way she can dish out magic, can cast more than what Kazu can and has a knack in healing when they got hurt. He would equalize things in terms of specializations, if has anything to say on the topic.

Kazu is the one who dishes out strong Almighty attacks and is responsible in 'buffing' and 'shielding' them from damage. He can cast Elemental spells but he goes for an attack that can't be resisted by the _demon's_ defenses. Atsuro can say he can be a one-man team if not for the fact that his 'shields' must be focused at all time for it to be active, thus delegating him as their group's defender.

Yuzu, on the other hand, is whiz on the Elemental spells and Healing. Though not strong compared to Kazu's irresistible Megido balls, her Elemental spells target the weaknesses of certain _demons_. For some reason, some of _them_ are weak to certain spells, like the Fire-based Agi or the Lightning-based Zio. When their weaknesses are struck, they get dazed and their wide open for an attack without any repercussions. Her Dias are, strangely, stronger than Kazu's, even if his were 2nd-tier according to the COMPs [Compendium].

All of them figured it has something to do with Yuzu's knack in magic. Even his best friend was amused and delighted by her skill in magic.

Atsuro was somewhat the physical attacker of their group. He prefers to punch the sense out of the _demons_ , something he can credit to the times he was caught fighting against bullies in Junior High with Keisuke. And he has a special skill that allows him to deal the **complete brunt** of his attacks to the _demons_. Only he seemed to have acquire the requirements to 'equip' a certain [Passive], Pierce. And that was a thing, the [Teams] app in their COMPs works like in a video game. A remark Kazu took offense to since he also noticed it as well and thought his brother programmed the application with _that_ in mind.

The COMPs reflect their 'statistics' in terms of physical and magic strength, agility, vitality and resistances to attacks; a theme commonly found in any RPG games. After Atsuro cracked the COMPs at the cafe, the three of them can 'equip' skills as long as their 'stats' can meet the requirements. After a skill was equipped, it wouldn't be available to others until it was unequipped.

If that wasn't any indication that Naoya had made the program with _games_ in mind, the fact that there was an **experience counter** after every 'encounter' they had against the _demons_ was enough evidence for Kazu and Atsuro to slam the gavel and shout "Guilty!". Based on the files Atsuro and Kazu read after he cracked the apps, the 'exp counter' seemed to work alongside with the ritual Kazu mentioned the day before and the [Magnetite Converter] function of the _Summoning Program_. Since the said ritual allowed them to have magic in the first place, it would make sense it would also 'empower' them just like how game characters get powerful after leveling up.

All three of them don't feel it the 'upgrade' but it can be noticed when they consciously use the said 'strength'. Yuzu explained that she was only turning a switch in her mind whenever she wanted to use the 'upgraded' strength she gained in fighting the _demons_. Kazu showed proof by kicking a soda can into a wall, making a crack in it, after he 'applied' his strength.

All in all, aside from the reality that they are now 'enhanced' human being through the use of _Demon Summoning Program_ , the 'stats' allow them to equip the skills Atsuro cracked as long as they can meet the requirements.

* * *

.

The all agreed to check the other side of the Yamanote Loop before going to Akasaka. Originally they were planning to go at Atsuro's house but Kazu made a comment on checking the other side of the Loop. Since they all had lunch at some open ramen shop near Ikebukuro and proceeded to stuff themselves with the noodles courtesy of Kazu's wallet, Yuzu and Atsuro made no complaints at Kazu's suggestion. It was a better to check the stations when there's daylight than to check them in the dark if the power won't come back that evening. Besides, Kazu made a great argument that they could stay the night at Atsuro's place instead of being stranded somewhere in the city at night.

Yuzu was comforted by the idea of having a bed to sleep on that evening, if they can't find a way out. If nothing else, having a roof to sleep under was absolutely better than to take the chance of sleeping at a cemetery.

They decided to try going along the train tracks and passing by the Otsuka, Suagamo, Komagome, and Nippori Stations but were stopped when a group of people who had bikes with them saw their small party. Apparently, they came from the northern stations of the Yamanote Loop and had to check the other stations. JSDF soldiers also littered the stations and along the train tracks that the possibility of an exit was nil. Them having bikes were enough for the party of 7 to assume they were also planning to check the stations in a fast and easy way.

Atsuro had to be the bearer of bad news to them when he relayed their situation. All seven of them were disappointed but thankful for the news. The three of them were also thankful for the news as well and made their goodbyes to the other party. Just like them they will be checking out the other stations of the Loop.

Kazu then made a suggestion of accompanying the group of seven when they were about to leave. Three of the girls were suspicious but the rest of the boys allowed the three of them to accompany them. Yuzu then asked the reason why he wanted for them to join the group, although she wasn't complaining of the company the group of seven brought.

His answer shook the him and Yuzu.

"...Their clocks were zero. Just like ours."

Yuzu almost fell over from the bike when she heard it from Kazu. Atsuro also forgot the fact that their Death Clocks were zero that day. That meant the had a chance to die that day if they couldn't prevent it. They had the Laplace Mail with them, an e-mail detailing potential events that may happen that day including potential deaths of people but hearing it also applied to the group they encountered was something else.

"Remember the e-mail saying there will be three people be killed? If this group decided to go pass Suidobashi Station, then most likely _they_ are the ones we must save from the demons!"

"But look at our Death Clocks, Kazu! We might die today but we don't know how!" Yuzu cried out as she swerved her bike, narrowly missing a wrecked trashcan in the middle of the road.

"Yeah, but are you just gonna stay put and let them die, knowing they don't stand a chance against the _demons-"_

Just as when they turned at the curve at the Metropolitan Expressway No. 5, a scream was heard a couple of meters in front of them. Kazu rushed immediately around the corner and made a shout to them, "Prepare your COMPs!"

His best friend's shout as proof enough that the _demons_ decided to attack the group. Summoning his demons, he came to the corner on his bike and saw three of the bikers who were with them all across the road. Still on top of his bike, he called out Yuzu to come faster and try to heal the victims.

Unfortunately, the three of the bikers were already dead, judging by the wounds they have on their bodies. Yuzu seemed to be aghast by the severity of the wounds they received. Burns and lacerations were the common ones the two of them found but Yuzu discovered one of the victims had a big chunk of ice embedded at his back. He was also smoking by the time they arrived.

Atsuro just then realized how powerful the _demons'_ attacks if not for the [Harmonizer] their COMPs always run. Those three weren't near them so they received the full power of the attacks.

Kazu seemed to be fighting some red shades who were so fast in avoiding his Megido balls. His demons, a Jambavan and a Makara, were doing okay in fighting a Bilwis who decided to stay around. The other _demons_ were chasing a blur at the horizon, to which Atsuro realized were the rest of bikers they were with.

"Yuzu! The Bilwis' weak to Zio! Can you help me here?"

"On it!" The girl with a bandanna cast several Zios to the Bilwis causing it to stagger, which the allowed Kazu's Jambavan to finish it with a heavy strike with its club. The Makara then glowed and a swirling energy ball of sorts appeared in front of it. It then threw - if the flippers of the duck/deer demon can throw- at the red shades Kazu was targeting at. The blurs then seemed to be stuck on the ground it was on.

Kazu then climbed on his bike and charged at the blurs. His bike seemed to be glowing or his hands were the ones glowing, which he then realized was an effect of a skill Kazu had. Navas Nebula. Kazu charged at the blurs with his bike, hitting them and causing them to dissipate in a swirl of colors.

Atsuro then remembered there rest of the bikers. "Yuzu! Kazu! Come on! The other bikers are in danger! The other _demons_ were chasing them!"

"I know!" He then recalled his _demons_ and continued. "You guys okay? No one's injured? Okay. I'm gonna cast a Masukukaja so that we can catch up to them."

"I didn't realized you could use that outside of fighting," Yuzu remarked as she climbed up on her bike and followed to where Atsuro and the teen with glasses were waiting for he. "By the way, can we do something about the others?"

"We can't help them Yuzu. They're already dead when we arrived," Atsuro said with a sigh. "I guess when other people will find them, they would instantly chuck it up to a gang war or something. Speaking of people, where are they anyway?"

"You didn't noticed Atsuro?"

"Huh?"

"They're gone as well. Look closely at the windows and the buildings around us. They're practically empty. I bet the majority of them ran away or got attacked by the _demons_. Come, let's hurry!"

* * *

.

Atsuro can see at the distance the bikers being bombarded by fireballs and lightning strikes by the _demons_. Luckily all of them missed. It was a wonder that they manage to avoid the attacks while riding a bike.

The three of them followed the _demons_ and the bikers to the Tokyo Dome Hotel, where they turned around the corner and ran.

"I can't believe they were waiting for an ambush at the corners. If they weren't there, the bikers could have escaped!" Yuzu exclaimed as she ran to the entrance of the amusement park. "Look, they ran up the stairs towards the park!"

Kazu almost crashed his bike as he tried to slow down before he too ran towards the theme park. Atsuro also had to catch himself from crashing into Yuzu's and Kazu's bikes.

When he arrived where Yuzu and Kazu stopped, the scene he came across was the frozen pillars of the four bikers. And a Wendigo was towering behind the pillars of ice.

"Oh no... They were frozen alive! Look at their faces!"

The Wendigo laughed before it bellowed, "Hah! You three will pay for interfering my plans in killing that skank! Its because to you three I have to run away from her!"

It was the same Wendigo from the cemetery!

"My minions! Surround them! Don't let them escape! We'll feast on their flesh!"

Yuzu was being hysterical from her position as the _demons_ one by one surrounded them, blocking the exits from which they could escape. She was shaking on her feet while clutching at the COMP as if it held her life. Kazu gritted his teeth while and muttered, "What time is it Atsuro?"

"I don't see why its important right now!"

"Just tell me, what time is it?"

"It's 13:00! So why..." Oh. So that's why.

"You realized it too huh. **We** were the ones being referred in the Laplace Mail. We even walked into their trap," Kazu said. He then help out his COMP and continued, "We're even at the right place, we are in Bunkyō-ku, and at the right time, 13:00. Hell, we even have the murderer in front of us, the Wendigo."

"...Wendigos are said to be the Western equivalent of Yuki-Onna. Except their beasts," Atsuro replied as he prepared his COMP as well. "We have forgotten that we were scheduled to die today."

"Hell no we aren't. I'd stick to the idea that the Laplace Mails are just predictions, not the actual truth! If this we are going to die, I won't go down without a fight."

"I... I try to forget that our Death Clocks were zero. I thought I could run away from it but it chased us back," Yuzu said as she try to shake of her fear. It seemed that his little talk with Kazu was overheard by Yuzu. "I... I won't run away now. I... I'm gonna fight! What Kazu said was right. I won't go down without a fight!"

"That's our girl! How about you Atsuro?" Kazu asked him as he summoned his Jambavan and Makara. "Will you stand around and watch?"

"Never." He then summoned his _demons_ , a Shisaa and a Jack Frost, while Yuzu summoned hers, an Angel and a Hamsa.

...

An angel. Aren't angels and _demons_ enemies in stories? Then how did Kazu managed to make a contract with an _Angel_ using the **_Demon_** _Summoning Program?_

"...What the?! Kazu! You have some explaining to do later!"

It seems Yuzu had the same idea as his, given with her unsurprising outburst.

"Will do! Get ready guys, his minions are charging."

* * *

Part 4

His plans of only summoning the demons who had the shards of his brother's soul were derailed by those cultists who have a fetish with the color orange. When he received that e-mail from Kuzuryu detailing about her father's plans that afternoon, he immediately abandoned his plans of having a nice summer trip outside Tokyo with his brother. And his friends as well, since the redhead and his 'apprentice' managed to make their existence a permanent fixture in their lives.

Even though the redhead was the only girl in his brother's small circle of friends - if it can be called a circle in the first place -, she was the rock that seemed to anchor his brother's sense of normality. His 'apprentice' can be somewhat flighty in his ideas, especially when he got his brother into those topics about the latest stuff on the internet. The girl completes the group's dynamics, even though his brother always got himself delegated into the mediator role.

His brother wasn't the same after the time he was abducted by some _wizards_ in Europe. Just because his brother had the same name as the kid they wanted - they changed it into a Japanese one after the adoption was finished -, doesn't mean they could take him whenever they want. And they kept on doing it for 6 consecutive years.

* * *

.

Naoya had to pull some strings just so he could rescue his brother from England. He used the excuse of a family trip when their teachers inquired him when he returned to school. Their parents were also in the secret for both of them were attacked when Kazuya got abducted from them for the first time. Even Gabriel, the candy equivalent of a drug addict and all around pain in the ass Archangel from a different dimension, joined in his mission to recover Kazuya from the grubby hands of those _wizards_. And everytime they managed to get him back to Japan, a part of his brother's mind gets chipped off. Literally.

After he rescued him for the first time, he noticed something wrong with how his brother acted. Like something hypnotized him into believing he was supposed to do something before he stopped himself from whatever he was planning to do. He got over it as time pass by but when the second time he rescued him and noticed it happening again, he went to their resident angel in the slums.

Gabriel managed to save the most of his brother's sanity by making a seal on his mind. Naoya could do it but his skill in mind magics were a bit lower than the ones employed by the angels. And since Gabriel was an angel who got turned into a human but still have access to his angelic abilities, he can do the deed. It was much more smoother and cleaner and made it harder for anyone who wanted to tamper on his brother's mind again.

Unfortunately, Gabriel couldn't do a thing with restoring the part of his brother's mind that got chipped away. He wasn't the healer, it was more on 'Raphael's jurisdiction' as he explained to Naoya. The only he could do was to delegate the chipped memories into a seal where one day it would be healed naturally and reabsorbed by the main part of his mind. Humans often get traumatized by witnessing or experiencing horrific things/scenes/accidents but they get healed as time goes by. As long as support and encouragement from the person's relatives and friends is continuously supplied, the trauma will be healed.

That is what Gabriel did to his brother. He also noticed that somehow _Abel_ was being assimilated into the seal he made, after he checked it when the third rescue operation happened. Gabriel explained it by comparing it to a hard drive partitions. Or a back-up memory or something similar to it.

Naoya equated it to a multiple personality disorder when he was confronted by _Abel_ instead of Kazuya when his brother woke up after Gabriel finished his check-up. He recognized _him_ when Kazuya's eyes turned blue and parts of Kazuya's hair turned the same shade as his eyes.

It was a confrontation he didn't expect but nevertheless received. Good thing _he_ was tired - aside from the harsh headbutt he initially taken from _him_ when he saw the eyes - and only made comments on 'kicking Cain's ass when he comes back' and 'should have known to get some defenses against Almighty attacks on the tower'. Only _Abel_ could have made comments on getting defenses on a tower for only he and _Abel_ were the ones left on top of Tower of Babel when it was struck down by a strike from the Heavens.

Gabriel mused that _Abel_ was only waking up properly now because _he_ wasn't blocked by a foreign entity. Specifically the soul shard Naoya found and used as a catalyst to summon Gabriel and made him human with his angelic abilities unlocked. Consequent abduction and rescue operations didn't evoked _Abel_ again, though both of them can sense _he_ was absolutely **pissed** by the events.

The kidnappings didn't go unnoticed by the Japanese Ministry of Magic, since both the Minegishi brothers were claimed by their community as one of their best magicians in the country. Despite being classified as _hermits_ by their standards, the contributions of the elder Minegishi in the area of ancient magical history research and spell-crafting development and the younger one as one of their strongest spell-casters in the country gave them the well-earned respect by the Ministry. Especially when the elder brother wrote articles and publications about the potential origin of magical creatures and _yokai_ in the country, possibly in the whole world.

At first, when the Ministry caught wind of the kidnapping of the younger Minegishi, it was already settled by the family of the victim and the perpetrators' identities weren't released to the public. Hence they left the issue alone. But when the second successful abduction was discovered, investigations followed immediately on who are the perpetrators were. Naoya gladly gave information on how he rescued his brother, namely the location where he found his brother by following his magical signature through a very special tracking spell he crafted personally.

The second rescue was done by Naoya and Gabriel, the relatives of the victim - Gabriel claimed to be distant uncle thrice removed -, and small party of the Magical Sector of the 4th Division of the Criminal Investigation Bureau. Kazuya was rescued at the same location as he was rescued at in the first kidnapping, at a house magically in the middle of the city of London hidden by several wards and under a Fidelius Charm. Location tacked down by following the magical signature registered at the Magical Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and defenses breached by the custom crafted spellwork by one of the best spellcrafters of Japan , the operation was successful.

Meanwhile, the Magical Sector of the Japanese National Police Agency gained a brand new, specially crafted, and Japan-exclusive spell that can neutralize any magic done or cast in an area. It also prevents any magic be cast or done, including magical artifacts and prosthetics. As such it was given the name [Ban Mystic] since it figuratively _bans_ any magic or _mysticism_ in a specific area.

The British Ministry of Magic was essentially in hot water when the Japan discovered they actually **allowed** the said kidnapping under the pretenses of 'rescuing a British citizen from a place not suited for respectable British wizard'. The spectacle was reported too in normal news since the Magic and Mundane side of Japan weren't really separated from each other. It was reported that a Japanese citizen was kidnapped from his home _repeatedly_ for several years by the British Government, who reasoned out that they were only 'rescuing the son of a respectable British citizen from the barbaric country somewhere in the East'. It also didn't helped that there was a video released to the public from an anonymous source showing an official of the British Government saying those things. The official was a high-ranking one, implied to be a part of the cabinet of the Prime Minister, and to make things worse, the video wasn't a hoax at all.

It was a prototype of Naoya's work in making technology work with magic. Needless to say, the disrespect made by a high ranking official to the entire country of Japan caused much anger and rage towards the country. The Ministry in Britain was scrutinized by the International Community due to their acts and 'active hostility and insult' to an entire country. Not to mention that it was then disclosed to the International Confederation of Wizards - which Japan was a member of but doesn't really commit much to their rules and regulations because _wizards_ \- about the blatant disregard of laws made by the British _wizards_ and the kidnappings.

Kazuya Minegishi was a naturalized Japanese citizen since he was adopted by her British aunt and her Japanese husband. Even though he wasn't born in Japan, he was still a citizen of the country through Article 8 of The Nationality Law No. 88 of 2008. The claims of 'abduction' was ultimately denied since **legal** papers of his adoption were filed years in **London** before it was filled again in Japan.

However, it didn't stopped their kidnappings which went for 4 more years. The fallout from those 'series of unfortunate events', as one reporter has wrote, included permanent blacklist of England in any airline service from Japan, the entire country of Brain put under extreme probation by both the ICW and UN due to their actions and several more.

Naoya was only glad that his parents were supportive of his action is rescuing is brother and Gabriel for helping in dealing the trauma his brother went through. Though the things the events that happened to him especially during the 3rd to 6th abductions were extremely traumatizing to him, Naoya was happy that Gabriel made a seal for Kazuya to prevent the majority of the damage affect his mind. _Abel_ , on the hand, was somewhat unhappy but not mad by the time he came out and had a talk with his brother and the angel in the slums. _He_ was thankful for the memories in the seal since it gave him a way to be fully assimilated into his reincarnation since _his_ memories will be included in the assimilation.

The damage dealt by the soul shard hindered _Abel_ from being _assimilated_ by his current reincarnation and was cut off completely until Naoya used it as a catalyst. It was the 'boulder blocking the cave to which Lazarus was kept in'. _Abel_ also requested that from _his_ brother to help him gather the scattered parts while _he_ was currently incapacitated.

A request Naoya gladly accepted.

* * *

.

He didn't spent all his time crafting spells for nothing. He also went to to different institutions that delved into the realms of _yokai_ and mythical creatures. Chances are, he would find a way to select the demons he will summon from their work since his attempt in summoning Loki ended up with summoning a version of the Archangel Gabriel. Though he masqueraded as Loki in his dimension, it still didn't count.

Luckily he snagged an internship from a very famous programmer who was also known in the magical community as The Expanse Crafter. He specialized in crafting space expansion and transportation symbols since he was a cripple. In the mundane world, he's known as STEVEN. The creator several gadgets and other technological advancements currently enjoyed by people. It also included the widely known COMP and its upgraded versions. Much like how laptops were bulky at first but became smaller and faster as the years go by. Thanks to a chance meeting when Stephen was visiting Japan at the Diet Building, he was given the chance to learn from the programmer.

When Stephen returned back to America, he left countless notes for Naoya to study. There was also a letter stating he will be his successor and his legacy. Naoya never heard of the man again nor were there anymore news about him. He completely vanished from both sides of the world, leaving a company that was soon divided by the shareholders and a thousand of notes on his work to his 'successor and legacy. Rumors went on saying he got into a mishap with his transportation runes but those were just rumors.

In the notes, he discovered a document detailing a theory made by his mentor about a dimension, called 'Expanse', where spirits and other mythical beings reside, a place where human consciousness and belief affects the entirety of the dimension and how humanity can only be the one to change the status quo. Stephen never released it nor published it but Naoya suspected his mentor deliberately left it for him to discover. He also discovered a system prepared by Stephen actualizing rituals and symbols as a series of programming code. Naoya suspected it was done on a whim by his mentor but chances of him leaving it to Naoya was also high. Coupled with his previous knowledge in summoning rituals, the notes his mentor left about reaching the 'Expanse' and the notes on how to use programming codes as a replacement to the symbols used in rituals, he managed to create the _Demon Summoning Program._

Though he wondered where the [Auction] and [Cathedral of Shadows] programs came from when his program was booted, Naoya realized it was made by the program to assist in its function. He did programmed it to fix its code when it detected an error but he didn't expect it to create 2 programs, much less one.

But the coding and programming in those were... unique. It wasn't made in his 'style' and overall it was too... _hammy_. And it was using the contracts made in the _Demon Summoning Program_ in ways he didn't thought possible until it showed him. Naoya suspected it wasn't the work of his self-fixing program but some other party's work.

When he reported his accomplishment after working on his mentor's work to Gabriel, he was shocked. Gabriel actually recognized the terms and divulged him into the things Gabriel did after he was summoned by Naoya. He knew there was a place where the demons he summoned along with _Abel_ came from but to learn his mentor's theory of an entire dimension sustained by humanity's belief was something he never expected.

Added by the fact that Gabriel mentioned that the demons there were talking about selling their contracts only lead credibility to his theory of someone other than him managed to create a _Summoning Program_ and there were people before him who were dealing with demons using contracts **professionally**.

The comments of his brother about 'humanity's power over everything else' back at the top of the Tower of Babel were actually true.

* * *

.

When the Shomonkai, a small cult obsessed in uniting people through the power of the internet, - though Naoya certainly thought it was originally unite all people within our nation through the power of the internet - discovered his skill in summoning after they caught him doing it a test run somewhere in Shinagawa-ku.

Knowing he was protective of his brother, they threatened Naoya to work with them in exchange of Kazuya's safety. At first Naoya denied which then lead to the Mahōtokoro Incident, which marked the 6th abduction and rescue operation. The Shomonkai claimed plausible deniability since _technically_ they really had no contribution to Kazuya's abduction and only the British _wizards_ were to blame.

Naoya had no choice but to work with them and help them have their own summoning devices. By the time he made a server for the _Summoning_ _Program_ for it run properly, he tossed it into one of his mentor's dimensional portals specially made in case of emergencies. That way he can claim he already did his job and its was up to them to find a way to get the server back if they wanted to recreate his Program. Just to be safe, he destroyed all of his and his mentor's notes after he completed the job. He made the only back-up to his files and hid it into one of his COMPs, claiming it was his a gift to himself for doing a great job.

He then gave it to his brother and his friends when the news of the Shomonkai proceeding with their plans to summon their god arrived to him. The only consolation he got was that this god they were trying to summon is one of the specific demons he discovered who got a major chunk of _Abel's_ soul shards. It saved him time and work to summon that bastard. The only thing left was to have _Abel_ absorb back his soul.

Naoya didn't expect the Heavens to lock them inside the Yamanote Loop that evening.

* * *

.

Aside from involving the Government in this so-called 'test to humanity', they also placed barriers over the entire Loop. It prevented anyone from jumping over to flying out the blockade. Not to mention it also reached a certain level below ground level, a fact that irritated Naoya. He noticed it when he received the e-mail from Kuzuryu.

Kuzuryu Amane was the only person he was polite to during the entire period he was working with the Shomonkai. She was polite to a fault that her persona as the Holy Maiden of the Shomonkai was commonly thought to be her true personality. A selfless kind-hearted idiot who would do anything to help the people. They weren't entirely far off from the truth.

She was also a bitch to deal with, especially with her annoying questions whether he would stay and work with them after he was done with the server. It was annoying but not to the point he would gank her with a metal steel pipe. Not to mention that she had an angel and a _devil_ inside her, using her body as a vessel.

It also greatly annoyed Naoya that through his actions, a _Bel demon_ got summoned out of schedule and got stuck in a girl. The stupid girl got the 'honor' to be the one who will summon a demon to kill a Deva, a guardian deity or a tutelary tasked to prevent the Expanse to creep into the human world. That was a thing, too. Certain mythical spirits became _deities_ , who were summoned to keep the rest of the Expanse to get into the real world. Like the 4 Devas in Tokyo, Japan and the Totems of somewhere in North America. Although the Black Hats can be regarded as tutelary of the entire American Region, since the Men in Black myths are commonly associated with protecting the entire United States of America, there are several guardian deities at different states and locations tasked in keeping the 'veil' between dimension stable and secure.

America was something, that was for sure. Human belief there were strong and thus _devils_ of the Judeo-Christian Religion always got summoned there. Gabriel has yet to check if there the Hunters he personally knew of exist there.

Nevertheless, Naoya had no idea why the Shomonkai decided to kill one of the Devas a week after he was done with the server and the modded COMPs and threw the said server, thus destabilizing the barrier erected by ancient Japanese monks and priests to hold back the 'malevolence' of the Expanse. His program can summon demons without a problem, though the strain to summon was somewhat lessened by the loss of the barrier. Still, what Kuzuryu summoned was a _Bel demon_ who went by the name of _Jezebel_ , a queen of Ancient Israel who convinced her people to worship _Baal_ and/or the prophetess who was accused of spreading sexual promiscuity to the worshipers of the church. in the sequel of what Gabriel referred as 'a collection of books Father commission to be written but Michael managed to fuck up by selecting some humans to write in a drunk stupor haze, cause why couldn't they just asked permission to use a human to be their temporary vessel, write it and send it to the rest of humanity'.

And to top things off, this caught the attention of the Heavenly Host, according to Gabriel, and sent one of theirs to secure the Holy Maiden from corruption. Of course Naoya saw everything, though he had to hide behind the temple with his custom made concealment spells from the Shomonkai and consequently from Kuzuryu when he sensed something happened to their Holy Maiden after the 'cleansing'. Naoya already have Gabriel coming to his apartment so seeing weird things was the norm for him, especially when he had experienced a thousand of lifetimes witnessing weird shit.

But never in his life did he saw and angel and a devil co-exist in the same body. Though the fact that the _Bel demon_ was unconscious probably had to do with it. While the rest of the Shomonkai left ahead to so back at their Headquarters at Shinagawa-ku, Kuzuryu remained behind and honed immediately to his position, ripping his concealment spells away and revealing him to the Maiden of the Shomonkai.

"So, this is what the **First Son of Adam** has been reduced to? He who used to stand tall and boast of his greatness, challenging the Heavens for a fight and when we send our reply you tumbled down to the dirt like the worms you so despised of. And now, you hide and fear for revealing yourself to others."

And the angel has spoken. Gabriel's remark on the residents of the Heavenly Host as 'dicks with wings' were certainly spot on, especially to those who thought they rule the Heavens and the entire World. If it weren't for the revived Archangel of different a dimension's observations and admission to the workings of Heaven when he investigated it, he would have resorted to having an argument with the angel inhabiting the body of the Shomonkai's Maiden.

"Where's the hubris you radiate when we last saw you active amongst humanity? Did the countless lives you have spent had finally taught you not to fight against His Words?"

Now that he knew that even God despised the attitude of His angels - both in this dimension and in others as well - and subsequently absconded the moment He gave humanity 'free will', he won't dare anymore in using God's name in his plans. Although at first Naoya doubted the words of the Archangel he unwittingly summoned, he realized Gabriel had no reason to lie. He was essentially an anomaly to the entire system. He would be killed instantly by the forces of Heaven if he was discovered.

 _Abel_ was certainly killed by Metatron for the reason he refrained to offer his offerings to him and instead sent it directly to God. _His brother_ admitted to him that he forgot to tell that the first time around since he was full of anger and hatred to the one who orchestrated his demise.

He realized the truth when God told him _directly_ not to send more offerings to His name but to another one He claimed recently. Only when he tried to tell _Cain_ , he was cut down by his scythe and his head smashed by a rock. Then his soul was experimented by the Heavens and torn apart, as _punishment_ of his transgressions.

"Although your lips doesn't drip with venom, your eyes absolutely exude the stench your soul certainly reeks of. Begone from this place, **Cain**."

Naoya would absolutely aid his _brother_ in releasing humanity from the clutches of Heavens. When _he_ finally comes back, they would continue what they had started before. But _Cain_ wouldn't close off his ears and eyes from his brother's words this time around. He was undoubtedly played with by the Heavens all those lifetimes and his anger was only then multiplied by the sheer hopelessness he felt when he died in those lives.

Started by anger coming from his disbelief in the entire scenario and the unexplained 'punishment' that came after, it soon then grew through the countless lifetimes he experienced and knowing his brother was broken literally into pieces by his hands ( _technically_ ). And it was directed to God, not knowing He left before they were born just because He despised the attitude of several of his angels.

(And probably the fact that their mother disappeared after they were born, leaving him and his younger brother alone with their good for nothing father. How did Seth came to exist was a wonder to him all those years after he died. Did the angels found a way to persuade their mother to have another child with their father? Or did they made another human for Seth to exist? Cain could remember a demon he summoned once referred that their mother was amongst the devils at the Pit, deep in Samael's embrace and strangely happy there.)

The target of his ire now was not God anymore but the angels He left to supervise the humans of this dimension. Gabriel told him about how his Father had His hands tied up in things concerning humanity cause He was prevented by from interfering by His own work.

Just because He was The Creator doesn't mean He could do everything what He wanted. He ultimately gave humanity their 'free will', independence from any shackles and the right to do their own decisions. This power was strong enough that He couldn't do a thing but watch after He made them.

Naoya kept silent while memorizing the feeling of the angel's Grace, in case he would meet the said angel once more in the future. He was then removed forcefully from the location when the angel banished him there. Though the angel _will_ have to recuperate after the banishment since he made it _very hard_ for him to be removed in the first place, the angel used up a **lot** of its Grace just to do the deed.

If he laughed before he was successfully removed there, he wouldn't deny it. God undoubtedly left this dimension to humanity and only His angels decided to ignore His unspoken decision. Naoya will have his fun when _Abel_ comes back.

* * *

.

Weeks after the 'cleansing', as the Shomonkai claimed to the public when they were reported in the media, was done, Naoya discovered what they really planned back then. By killing a Deva, the barrier at Tokyo would weaken and thus easier to summon demons. But it also allowed demons within a certain strength level to pass through and resist the binding mechanism of the _Program_.

Naoya suspected the Shomonkai was planning to summon stronger and they needed to destabilize the barrier. It was somewhat stupid since his _Program_ could summon **any** demon, as long as you employ the services of the [Auction] and [Cathedral of Shadows]. The needed [Macca] could be paid by paying it with magic. Just like how the _magi_ in the Clock Tower employ Servants into their services. And besides, the only thing they allowed to happen was to allow certain demons to resist the binding contract and cause havoc because they aren't under a contract.

He was already planning to use their trip outside Tokyo to investigate other ways to stabilize the barrier when Kuzuryu e-mailed her about a summoning scheduled that evening at Aoyama and an unknown sender sending him a Laplace Mail. Naoya had to cancel his plans on the trip and rushed to his apartment complex at Aoyama from Shinjuku. He was hanging out at Gabriel's bar, researching any viable plans in stabilizing the barrier and dealing payback to Gabriel by wasting his stash of chocolates and blasting classical music using his speakers, when he received it.

He had met the redhead before he made his way to Ichi-maru-kyu so Naoya gave her the COMPs, for safety measures; he already 'modded' them so it would only summon a low rank demon that would easily be defeated. The police may go through his stuff in his apartment when they found out the death of his neighbor so he hurried his way there.

He arrived there, just in time for his brother and the redhead to confront him about his safety. _Abel_ was asleep but he can't tell if he was feigning it or he was completely unconscious. Naoya had to reassure the two before he finally convinced them to leave, allowing him to clean up his apartment of anything that could give the police any idea he had a smudge of a connection to the murder at the door next to him. His stuff there were vague and ominous enough to give them an idea to slap an arrest warrant on him, given that he was researching ways to fix the barrier.

Naoya also sent an e-mail to Kazuya, guiding them into helping Kuzuryu when he found the site they used to summon the Wendigo. They actually manufactured a summoning sigil and forgot how to dismantle those after. It cost him - he was disguised as a member - and the Shomonkai several hours in defeating the influx of demons summoned by the crudely made summoning sigil, which was incomplete due to lacking the necessary circle for binding and other things he added to the mix, namely the stopper that _stops_ demons from rushing out.

Every time one summons a demon from the Expanse, one must limit their summons since it basically opens a 'free-for-all' portal to the human world.

Strangely, they also didn't bother to bring the _tracks_ they supplied to him to act as a 'regulator' and an emergency 'canceler'. Naoya wondered all the time when he was with the Shomonkai since they found **two** _songs_ that acts as a conduit in summoning demons and a unsummoning sequence, banishing any demons within its range back to the Expanse.

The saying that music is the universal language is actually true. Although Naoya had no idea how in the world did the 'composer' of the song managed to successfully imitate the phonetics of the Ancient Common Tongue , he had to give it to whoever it was because the skill needed to construct even an imitation of the Old Language is incomprehensible. Unless it was just plain luck that made it possible in the first place. Fortune was a bitch with her 'blessings'.

Good thing he was disguised since everything went down to a massacre since the demons they summoned were at their full strength and the only thing that prevented them from killing him was the COMP he had with him. He added the _tracks_ they supplied to him into the COMPs as a safety measure and he was ever so grateful to his past self in thinking about it. Naoya also noticed before Kuzuryu left to chase the Wendigo, since it was a much larger threat, that she had a COMP with her.

Smart girl, that's what she was.

* * *

.

He found Gabriel and some of his friends at the streets of Omotesando after the blackout happened, leaving them to fend off the remaining demons summoned from the work done by the dead cultists. Thankfully the streets were dark enough to hide the berserk demons from the eyes of the residents there but the noise created by the fray was heard throughout the entire neighborhood.

Naoya had to crash at Gabriel's place since his apartment was not fit enough for him to stay, not to mention the police would have been busy searching the entire building of any clues to the cause of the victim's unusual death. He wouldn't risk of returning even if they were bound to be attracted to the noise of conflict several blocks from the apartment complex and leave the area. With a bribe and a threat or two to Gabriel's source of exquisite chocolate fondue, he managed to persuade Gabriel to not reveal he was with them for the night.

Kazuya was appalled already by the fact Gabriel was staying at his apartment for free, he wouldn't want to incur Kazuya's ire if he discovered Gabriel pays it by letting Naoya stay at his place as well.

Expecting things would be alright and the power back on the next, he prepared reply to his brother and his 'apprentice' when the Laplace Mail arrived for that day. He immediately had to change things and rushed to adjust his replies before sending those to their recipients. The Babel Server the COMPs he made were connected to in case of its main service providers went down was something he didn't realized would be useful that day. Although he made the server for the _Program_ act as a private server for internet services and other communication methods on a whim during his stay at the Shomonkai, he never really focused on its possible uses.

He might have to do some adjustments in the future when the bugs and errors came out, if he can get his hands on the server or the heavy duty, high-end terminals that were used in creating the said server again. However, the fact that the power was still down and other communication methods were dead wouldn't help him in that matter.

When he arrived at the Shinjuku Station, he discovered the reason why there was a blackout and a communication blackout. The Heavenly Host decided to come out and play. Angels were hidden amongst the soldiers of the JSDF and at the buildings past beyond the Yamanote Loop. He easily recognized the power those beings give off, despite possessing human bodies to hide their 'angelic presence'.

Noticing the brother of one of his acquaintances at the Ministry, one who was good enough not to piss him off unlike the rest of the people there, he dropped a COMP to the boy's hands while he was gawking at the scene at the station. He won't bother telling him how, he already gave the boy the means to protect himself. Naoya repaid the favor one Takagi Saya did for him by giving her brother a COMP.

He's smart enough, based from his sister's gossip to him whenever he visits the Diet Building, to breeze his way in making a contract. The 'dicks with wings' wouldn't do a thing in helping people inside the Lockdown if what the Laplace Mail said to him was accurate. It basically implied that the Shomonkai would follow through their plans and summon their _god_ , while recklessly summoning anything they want on the way or somehow the barrier in Tokyo was weak enough for some of the demons from the Expanse to allow their entry into the human world.

Neither of those two implications endeared to him at all.

* * *

Part 5

After he got himself settled down at Tokyo, the first thing he did was to investigate the summoning circle Cain - no, it was Naoya now - used to save him from dying. Permanently. Unlike the angels under his jurisdiction in Heaven, Archangels like him were created by their Father from the Primordial Energy He used to create the worlds and everything in it. The rest of their brethren were made from the energy left over from their creation mixed with their Father's power and could be easily recycled to 'revive' if they got themselves killed.

But unlike them, those who were created using the _bulk_ of the Primordial Energy can't be revived again. The Primordial Energy used to create them was something that can not be replaced again. Once it was used, it can't be used again since it was completely consumed by the process it was used for.

Gabriel theorized that the Pagan god and deities back in his world/dimension used the leftover Primordial Energy to exist as themselves, using humanity's belief as their basis and consequently the souls of humans as their fuel to sustain their existence. He had to hide his disgust at their actions when he was forced to hide as one of them.

It also gave an answer to the question how the Hunters and other beings like his brothers, sisters and the demons were able to kill those Pagan gods permanently. They were made from the leftover energy Archangels were made, giving them tremendous power but a glaring and obvious weakness that could be exploited by many.

There is a reason why he, his brothers and their Father had to _pacify_ their aunt since the worlds she destroyed in her anger were completely _eradicated_. Because their Father used Primordial Energy in creating the main world and other worlds, it couldn't be brought back after they're destroyed.

Gabriel thought that once he died, it was permanent. No way to save an Archangel from dying after being stabbed and **purged** by an Archangel Blade, a weapon made to balance their existence. Archangels like him were created to be indestructible since the Primordial Energy flowing and composing their Grace was something that couldn't be matched by anything else, so their Father had to use a portion of their Grace in a different way to balance the sheer power. Since it was the force of the entire universe in a weapon form and a part of their existence, the Archangel Blades were the ultimate weapon to destroy anything in the universe.

Ranging from the lowest of spirits to high ranking demons, their Father warned them that it could be used against them since only the force of the universe could counter one of itself. A balance, so to say. Gabriel could say that it was play on the saying 'equivalent exchange' after he hid himself on Earth from his brothers later on.

Only to realize later on that the term 'equivalent exchange' was _actually_ one of the unspoken laws of the universe. Gabriel was killed by a weapon made from the energy he was created from. A weapon strong enough to counter the strong existence Gabriel had. An equal to him, an Archangel.

'Equivalent exchange' was also the reason why he was saved from dying because in exchange of him dying, a soul of another person was used in his place. He always never thought that the offerings and 'reagents' used by the demonic witches back in his dimension in summoning demons was an offshoot of one of the laws in the universe. No wonder why the Heavenly Host couldn't do a thing about the summons since it was part of their world's existence, not to mention it was used to summon a specific angel down to Earth if the appropriate materials were used.

Though he had to wonder how he was now technically a human, despite retaining his abilities as an Archangel. Naoya once joked he was now the perfect example of a true homonculus, to which he slammed his mouth shut for 5 minutes using his Grace.

He never repeated that joke ever since.

Still, the fact that he managed to survive, through the work of his Father and/or the laws of the universe, was something he was ever so grateful. And to think that something managed to counter effect of an Archangel Blade was bound to be investigated by someone who got to experienced it first hand.

The summoning circle Naoya used was a prototype, according to him. The materials were simple and the circle was... in a vague shape resembling closely an oblong than a circle. All in all, it was nothing special from any summoning he had witnessed except for one thing. The incantation he used was in the Ancient Common Tongue.

It was the language everyone intimately and instinctively knew back before the Tower of Babel was struck down and the emergence of distinct accents and dialects. Heaven decided to create their own language, Enochian, because of the reasons that the Ancient Common Tongue was commonly spoken and the writings of Heaven could be read instantly if it got into the hands of humans.

Not that it even happened but the idea was clear enough. Thus Enochian was created.

The thing about the Ancient Common Tongue was that its **ancient**. As in ancient as time immemorial. Their Father used the language He knew and taught it to humanity, because He wanted everyone to understand each other easily. But Tower of Babel happened and the loss of the common language...

Still, it was **ancient** for a reason because its the language of the universe. Their Father used the Ancient Common Tongue in making His creations and thus when it was invoked, the universe complies. No wonder the summoning worked for him. The universe complied with it.

* * *

.

Asking for a copy of what Naoya used to summon him was easy. Answering his questions of why and for what purpose were tricky.

Ever since he left his garrison in Heaven and hid amongst the Pagan gods as the Norse Trickster god Loki - his Father helped him with the disguise since He was also hiding from his brothers and sisters - , Gabriel wondered what happened to those he left behind. Namely Astarael and Betzalel, the twin sisters who worked under him.

They were the one he personally chose from his brethren to be a part of his garrison. The rest were assigned by Michael, for he was the second-in-command after God left and Lucifer was imprisoned in Hell. Astarael was someone that would get along with Tzadkiel, the angel of justice, since she was was enamored in the idea of balance and retribution while Betzalel, who also goes by the name Za'apiel, was originally in the garrison that specializes in punishing wicked humans.

Both of the sisters were strict and all but they also were _very good_ in pranking their fellow angels when they got them pissed off. That's why Gabriel personally went to those two after he witnessed them pranked Lailah. Lailah had it coming after she burned Astarael's hair one day just because she was in her way.

They hid her candle she often used in helping her find a way through the darkness since she was an angel of the night. Unlike other angels, angels of the night can't see much in the dark despite 'night' a part of their title. The prank was harmless but it taught Lailah not to mess with Arael again after they hid her candle for a day.

When they heard he eventually left Heaven and went into hiding, both of them cried out in the 'Angel Airwaves' begging for him to come back or, at the very least, take them with him.

Gabriel remembered before coming into the new dimension was that Arael was screaming at the 'Angel Airwaves' for help for countless weeks until it eventually disappeared. Gabriel heard it but he couldn't find the exact location where Arael was. He doubted she was in Hell since the demons in Hell would kill one of them the moment one would be found by a demon. Betzalel, on the other hand, was sent somewhere in the Maine, New England to do her duties as an angel of punishment. She wasn't heard ever since.

Hoping that somehow he could call his trusted lieutenants in his garrison in his new dimension, whisking them away from whatever problem they are saddled with. Knowing his brothers, Michael and Raphael, they would undoubtedly tasked both of his second-in-commands with tasks unsuitable to their specializations or used them as scapegoats just because they're loyal _only_ to him and not them.

Good thing he found two soul shards back at England when he and Naoya rescued Kazuya. The taint they emit was almost the same of the taint he felt that lingered at his forehead when he was summoned. It was undoubtedly parts of the same soul, shattered and embedded at objects for some reason.

He had no idea why would anyone do such a thing. A human soul was one of the most important and mysterious of their Father's creations that even they, his first sentient creations and sons & daughters, couldn't make heads and tails of. To find it broken into pieces - and how did it came into in the first place? - was something any angel would weep and even a demon gasp in shock.

Gabriel also had no idea why would they be found inside a tiara and a book. Why would it even be in a kid's forehead? A question that could not be answered anymore, that's what it was.

It would be immediately thrown into Purgatory, for neither Heaven nor Hell could accept it into their realms. Heaven couldn't for obvious reasons and Hell for the fact that they couldn't torture the soul and turn it into a demon because its way too _broken_ already for use.

But it doesn't matter in the long run, whoever it was before its soul was broken wouldn't enter Heaven nor Hell anyway. Using the shards of its soul as payment for a potential rescue would be a much better ending for the person it was before than being devoured by one of his Father's biggest mistakes in creation. Invoking the Ancient Common Tongue into summoning his lieutenants, the book and the tiara he confiscated from a strange castle in England began to burn.

From the circles where he placed the book and tiara, flames began to rupture and a type of mist start to form. Gabriel was only thankful that it was noon and he's alone in the apartment he bought for himself, or else people would have noticed the light-show.

* * *

.

When Naoya came to him that afternoon to inform him of the things he should do now that he was a human being, Gabriel had to stop his lieutenants from attacking Naoya. Both of them were debriefed after they got saved from whatever disaster was happening back in their old dimension but old habits die hard.

Astarael arrived in the form of a woman with average height and had bright red hair. She wore something that Gabriel would have instantly direct to the Bikers of America, with the spiked leather jackets and pants she wore above a decent tank top. Leather boots completed her ensemble, making Gabriel thought of how in the world did Arael got herself into it.

Betzalel, on the other hand, was wearing something he could easily recognize. Who wouldn't if the person if front of you was wearing a skirt designed with lots of frills and lace and had knee high socks. She was also wearing platform shoes that were in the same color as her skirt dress. If he was honest with himself, he would say that Betzalel was **cosplaying** as Ruby Rose, a character from one of the American animated shows he was following currently. She even had the same shade of black as the color of her hair, even the highlights are also included.

Gabriel was in the middle of informing the sisters of their current situation when Naoya came so he had to postpone it after he settled the three down. Naoya wouldn't back out from a threat on his person, he lived enough lives already and Gabriel wouldn't want to test if the Curse of Seven-fold Suffering was true in this world or not.

"Arael! Zal! Stop! This Cain is not the Cain you two are familiar with!" Gabriel yelled at the sisters, catching their attention while allowing Naoya to escape from their gazes and find his way behind him. Not that Naoya is scared of the two but to show he bore no harm to him and them.

"And who are you? Your presence feels just like our Commander. But nobody knew where he is and only Father would have an idea where his whereabouts are, but he's hiding as well!" the redhead screamed back in retaliation as she manifested an Angel Blade out of thin air. "What have you done to have us here?"

Betzalel, or should he say Za'apiel now because she's radiating pure _anger_ , continued for her sister, "I would also ask why we have a human vessel without the drawbacks of possessing one. And the circumstances of you knowing our names. We haven't spoken out our names yet you knew it."

"One word. No, make it two. Lailah. Candle."

His statement finally caused the two to gasp in shock and then in recognition.

"C-Commander?!"

The bastard behind him chuckled. "I'll be at the backroom. Call me if something comes up, okay?"

* * *

.

"Where were you Commander?! Where are you been all these centuries?"

"I've been hiding from my brothers among the Pagan gods as one of the most notorious Trickster gods, Arael. Now, what happened to you and where have you been all this time after you stopped screaming for help in the airwaves?" Gabriel asked the redhead. He made the two comfortable by having them sit down on the couch he bought for the flat he had. The entire place was bought by his hard work, although he may have _cheated_ a bit so he could get the best out of everything.

"I... After you left, Lord Michael assigned me as your replacement in you garrison while Betsy was removed from it. I was sent to one of the battlefields during the Dark Ages and one of the Archdemons caught me. I was then threw into Hell and was tortured by one the demons there. Three guesses on who it was that got that honor," Arael bitterly replied, dropping her cup of the tea Gabriel served for the three of them down at the table with a bang. "Clue: Faust knew him."

"No way. Mephistopheles? What did he do to you?!" Gabriel exclaimed as he dropped his drink on the coffee table as well. Even Betzalel stopped from munching on her cookie from the revelation. "... Does this have to do with the news of his _creations_? The Hell Bikers?"

"Huh. Where did you even heard of them? Anyway, you're correct on that. How would Mephistopheles be able create those demented versions of Hell's hellhounds without using an Angel's Grace? Those Hell Bikers of his are powered by _my_ Grace, which allows them to have a part of their consciousness stay on Earth while their soul is at Hell being tortured. Trust me, I witnessed it while being tortured there."

"And how did you stay sane?!"

"Who said I did? I was broken there, Commander. **Broken**. I couldn't make of things anymore except for certain things like the time my Grace was successfully ripped off of me, mentions of how my Grace was used for their men, and the glimpses of the souls of those who made a deal with Mephistopheles," she answered back with a smile on her face. "Truthfully, I think I'm imagining having a conversation with you and my sister her while my real self is still there in Hell but... I can feel my Grace, Commander. Its intact and complete."

Gabriel smiled at Arael's genuine smile after she said the last part. "Then at least my plan worked."

"...You can tell us later what was your plan _after_ my sister tells us where she was before coming here." Oh yeah, Betzalel was with them. She was so engrossed in her food that the he didn't processed her presence until she looked at the after sensing their stares.

Betzalel laid down her plate of cake and drank down her drink, downing the food. "Two words: Silent Hill."

That caused Arael and Gabriel to shiver. Gabriel doesn't know if Arael knew what Silent Hill _actually_ was but she might have an idea. It was a despicable place that not even Hell would grace its 'malevolence'. And to think Betzalel was sent there to do her duties as an angel of punishment. He was there when Uriel razed down a portion of the town, giving the message of displeasure and disgust from the Heavens. However it backfired _big time_ based on what Zal implied. No, what she just not said but obviously stated.

"Same as my sister, I was tasked to quell the 'sinners' in the place. But I didn't expect for a demon to lay down a barrier around the town when I entered the town. It allowed no one to exit but allowed anyone to enter. A one-way ticket."

Zal sighed and continued, "Also it seemed that someone from Above reinforced the barrier, disabling my authority over a low-level demon's work. I surmised it was the work of one of our brothers whose station is quite above us, since I wasn't able to remove it nor gain access to the 'Angel Airwaves."

"I believe we have much to discuss in the future but I, myself, am thankful that I got you two out from whatever _hell,_ **pun not intended** , you were in. Thank you Father for giving me the chance," Gabriel said as he prayed to his Father, thanking whatever He did. He knew that somehow his Father _can hear_ him even when he is so far from where He is right now. The two sisters also closed their eyes and prayed quietly to their Father for their rescue.

"Now that you two have calmed down, I would like to inform you that the place you are in right now isn't the same place you were in before," Gabriel stated.

"If you meant by the lack of Father's presence around us, then you are correct," Arael replied. "Oh and the fact that there is something here-" She pointed to her head. "- that gave me _tons_ of information about various things."

"Me too!" Zal quipped as well.

"Then tell me because I didn't got that... whatever you have in your head after I got here." He had to travel to Heaven and find his way back to where Naoya was. Thankfully time was somewhat slow in the Expanse or his abilities in Chronokinesis was activated there.

"From what I can understand, since my Grace was used as the source of power by Mephistopheles' Hell Bikers, it affected my Grace when it was returned to me. It wouldn't affect my abilities as an Angel normally but somehow when... I got here, it changed me," Arael explained. She then motioned to her current attire. "Tell me Commander, honestly. This... world we are in now is strongly affected by humankind's perception, am I right?"

"...Yes, in fact I theorized this is one of the worlds our Aunt supposedly destroyed back before you two were created. I think this world evaded its destruction by the sheer strength of humanity's will. This is probably where Father tested out the 'program' He used in making the separate Heavens of humans up Above," he told Arael. Zal, on the hand, seemed to be deep in though since her face was scrunched up and her eyebrows were tense.

"Just as I thought. The perception of humankind here is strong enough to affect the supernatural beings of this world, although from what I can gander from the _chunk_ of information _installed_ here in my head, there is something that prevents the majority of them in entering the human side of the world. Another part of humankind perception, I suppose. The denial of anything supernatural."

What Arael had just said was... quite accurate. Gabriel could feel there's a barrier around certain parts of the country there were in preventing the Expanse from coming in, except for England but that was a story for another time. There are certain parts in the world that the barrier is weak enough to allow certain creatures to exist. _Yokai_ and other _magical creatures_ could only exist there, since their origins came from the Expanse thus their existence is tied there as well.

Getting them to go near where the barrier is intact would immediately 'deport' them back to the Expanse. Unless their existence could be tied by a contract with a summoner, letting them through the barrier under probation, so to say.

"Hell Bikers are commonly attributed to the element of Fire and wearing leather jackets or anything with leather in it. Also the rumor of them punishing wicked people by just a stare is also regarded as a part of a Hell Biker's abilities. Guess what got added to me, aside from the attire I'm wearing," Arael said, catching Gabriel's attention back to her.

"Uh... you can wield Holy Flames now? And you can do the Penance Stare? Hey! I watched the movie Ghost Rider and the comics it was based on!" The stare Arael was giving towards him was something that he wouldn't want to experience looking at. Even with the implications that she _could_ use the so-called Penance Stare, he wouldn't want to look at her anyway. She was _pissed._

With a huff, Arael stopped giving Gabriel her stare of anger and continued, "Seriously Commander, must you be an _ass_ in such a serious discussion?"

"Uhh... yes?"

"Its a rhetorical question Commander!"

"Um... Sister? Commander?"

Zal's inquiry caught his and Arael's attention. "Sorry, Zal. We went a bi... too serious back there. You know your sister is."

"And here I am, the one who is supposed to be the problematic one," Zal mussed while giving a small smirk.

"Ugh. Anyway, tell us Zal. What changes you got when we got summoned here, is that right Commander?"

"Okay, first of all, please call me Beth. Zal just sounds so... wrong and Beth is much better nickname, especially with Elizabeth can be connected to Betzalel since the phonetics of the two are-"

"Beth! Get to the point."

"... My abilities adapted to the image of an Angel of Death and Vengeance since people thought that the punishments reported in Silent Hill and its neighboring town of Shepherd's Glen were done by an Angel, which isn't far from the truth. I don't know humanity knew about it and it got so famous that it affected me. Maybe its because I **am** the angel sent there to punish the sinners of their acts against children but..."

Beth trailed off, gazing at the scenery outside the windows of his apartment. "Their actions... They're despicable, perhaps that's why I was sent there by Lord Michael and the others. I've always been a vindictive angel on circumstances regarding children. Good thing I managed to help Alessa separate her goodness before it could be corrupted completely and Alex to accept the burden of his actions."

Sighing, Beth rose up and went to the mirror he hanged near the doorway of his apartment. "I... When I came there and helped Alessa with purging the town of its sinners, I... I don't know how they got their hands on Metatron's Seal. You know, the Seal Metatron used on the scrolls he wrote Father's words at? They used it on Alessa as I was with her at that time." She touched the mirror and clenched her fist. "I was using her as a temporary vessel so when the Seal was used, Alessa suffered from the effects of my Grace in full power. It awakened her magic abilities. It was... I reckon you heard of it from the stories, how the entire town was plagued with monsters coming from a demented child's mind?"

Beth gave a broken laugh. "Although it was Alessa's mind that caused those manifestations of her emotions, it was my Grace being used as a tool. Which made her to the eyes of the sinners as the Mother of their god. And gander this. The being inside was was supposed to be their god? Wasn't that funny?"

"Beth..."

"Sis... Commander... Its over, okay? Things went down like it was in the stories, albeit it went different. With my help, Cheryl was 'born' and the town went into lockdown. Using the monsters to hunt down the sinners as the years pass by, I reached out into the neighboring town of Shepherd's Glen. Alessa, bless her soul by the way, was so helpful in my duty. She wanted to end the residents' blasphemous acts too," Betzalel continued.

"Tell me sister, did you broke down in Hell? Did you mind got shattered by their torture?"

Gabriel was curious with Beth's sudden change in topic. Arael, who was beside him, answered, "Sadly, yes. My mind was shattered by the torture that I can't remember what actually happened down there. Should I be thankful that I can't remember it?"

"I think you should but who am I to say it, right? At the very least, you can remember vague memories of what happened but not the vivid ones. Was I correct in my assumption?"

Arael shook her head. "No, you not wrong."

"I, on the other hand, can still remember all the atrocities the two towns made. One who burned a lot of girls in the name of their god while the other _sacrificed_ their children for the so-called protection. Was I mistaken in using their in-grained fear of the so-called punishments from their god as their penance? As a way to even the scales?"

"No, it isn't. They did it consciously and without remorse, right? If Uriel, that dickhead, was there, he would have not used _only_ his Grace to smite them but would use other means to deal **justice** ," Gabriel remarked. He heard of the stories, the story of Silent Hill is even a series in this world. He surmised that these writers and authors of the 'stories' can see what happened in other worlds and wrote them as a proof of them witnessing it. They're not Prophets but can be classified as Seers.

"I won't go much into detail what I did in Shepherd's Glen but I assure you Commander and Sis that almost everyone there did things that they **deserved** the punishment. Elle and Alex were spared because they **are** innocent, even if their forefathers did despicable things," Beth continued as she went back to her seat. "After that, the time came for Cheryl to come back and save her other self. With her abilities in full strength, we managed to give 'birth' to their 'god' and made them experience Heaven's Wrath instead of their _Paradise."_

She closed her eyes shut. "But after that, after Alessa and her adopted father Harry left, I can't get out. I was stuck in the town for several years, witnessing how Alessa's leftover power from absorbing my Grace affect the barrier of the town. It attracted the attention of other people, commonly those who did despicable stuff."

Gabriel remarked while Beth drank another glass of juice instead of tea, "The barrier attracts the sinners, giving them images of redemption?"

"Yes, I had to experience the lot of them dying under the hands of their own fears made manifest. Alessa's leftover abilities, which is also my Grace, allowed their inner fears and despair made manifest in the town. It also tested their resolve and willingness to carry the burden of their problems, regardless of severity."

Then at that moment, Naoya came out from the backroom of his apartment carrying a tray of rice and other meals. "Enough of that story telling, you three need to eat. Based on what I had to suffer after Gabriel was first summoned, I prepared a _feast_ for you two."

"Is... Is this free?!"

"No Gabe, this will be going to your accounts." Naoya gave him a smile. "Hope you enjoy!"

* * *

.

He had to explain that the dimension they came into got a copy of their Heaven, though having alternates of themselves in there threw a wrench into their plans. The sisters were sad that they couldn't visit Heaven again, despite it a mere copy of the real one.

Gabriel also had to explain that the Cain and Abel of this world are... different. Cain was _cursed_ by Metatron - to which the two were shocked to know he's the leader of this dimension's Heaven - while Abel was _experimented_ on. He also had to explain that his brother's, Lucifer, alternate followed through with his Falling but as a means to guide humanity instead of letting Metatron 'enslave' them.

Both of his lieutenants remarked that if Lucifer in their dimension was that, things would have went different.

Needless to say, Arael and Beth caught up with the problem Naoya was in and were up to date with the current stuff around. He and Naoya also had to get them legit papers since both of the were classified as Humans, just like him. They also tested Arael's and Beth's abilities. All of them were amazing, especially with Arael's Penance Stare. Instead of her turning her own head into a skull, she just manifested a flaming eye behind her with her Angel Blade - which was turned into a chain whip, a side-effect of humanity's perception of a Ghost Rider/Hell Biker -. Beth, on the other hand, was inclined to the Light and Dark 'purging/smiting spells' of the magic scale in the new dimension. A side-effect of her purging the sinners in Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen.

He outfit and looks also had something to do with humanity's perception on her role, although it was slightly modified to fit her true personality. The character her outfit and image was based on had a scythe and a gun modified into one weapon, symbolizing her role as an angel dealing with death, and clothes showing off the Gothic Lolita Fashion that was popular back in the early 2000s. The said fashion statement also mirrors another famous character Gabriel knew of, Margaret Moonlight.

Now that he thought about it, the character of Margaret Moonlight probably affected Betzalel mostly than Ruby Rose. She's an assassin in her story, mirroring Betzalel's role as an 'assassin' of the Heavens. Betzalel's looks, however, used Ruby Rose for some reason Gabriel couldn't understand.

...Philistine was that **good** , now that he was remembered of it.

Of course, Gabriel himself won't let his two lieutenants show off their skills and abilities without him doing the same. Even Naoya - the one who they used as their guinea pig, though he can keep up with them - who lived from the start and saw lots of things, can handle their attacks. Visualizing the so called 'Skill List' that seemed to be given to him after he was summoned, he can identify two 'Healing' Spells, two Elemental Spells and two Offensive Spells.

Samarecarm, a translation of an Ancient Common Tongue that invokes the revival of a sentient being in exchange of power, commonly magic. And Prayer, a title to the invocation of complete recovery of the entire group.

Mazandyne and Maziodyne, both are translations of the power of Forceful Wind that affects the entire being of a person, causing it to stiffen, and the power of Lightning of the Universe to hit the entire opposing party. There's also the Garu series but it lacks the aftereffect of stiffening one's body.

God's Hand, a severe Physical attack in the form of manifesting a giant fist coming from the Heavens and falling towards the opponent. Fitting for Gabriel, whose name translate to _God is my strength_. And the manifestation of the said skill surely does give credit to his Father, as if He was the one dealing it personally from the Heavens. He also have access to a unique ability called Ethereal Blast, according to the 'Skill List' in his mind.

The feeling of him trying to do it was he was undressing his mortal vessel and releasing the full strength of his Archangel Grace. Concentrating it into a singular blast of White Light, he released it. Causing a deep hole, the concentrated light would then explode and affect the entire opposing group in its blast radius.

Gabriel felt that he saw it once in one of Kazuya's and Naoya's video games, which would made sense since humanity's perception of magic and other supernatural abilities came from humanity's imagination and belief. When Naoya saw him executing the said skill, he laughed harder than the time he referred to Gabriel as a true homonculus.

* * *

.

The days the followed were nothing of importance to Gabriel. Both of his lieutenants had applied for a legit identity since they are also classified as humans by the summoning sequence made by Naoya. After that, they went to different paths in order to help their Commander and this dimension's Cain and Abel.

Just like him, they trusted this world's Cain and Abel. There's a reason why both of them tried to follow him into hiding. They want nothing to do with the way the Heavens worked with their Father's order to guide humanity. Unlike in their dimension where their Father is actively observing yet in hiding, Father had no presence in this dimension.

This also lead credence to Gabriel's theory of this word as one of the supposedly destroyed worlds by their aunt. And it only survived through humanity's will to live. It also applied to several things as well like the supernatural side of the world.

While Gabriel and Naoya had to deal with the abductions on Kazuya's person, both Arael and Beth went to do their jobs in order to aid Gabriel and Naoya. And also potentially Kazuya.

Arael went to Heaven to listen on the rumor mill there. She's safe is she pretended to be a low-ranked angel since Astarael was originally a low-ranked angel back at their dimension, and only got promoted due to her actions and being chosen personally by the Archangel Gabriel. Thus, she won't be totally suspicious if she was found there listening amongst the Angels and Powers.

Beth, on the other hand, decided to explore the rest of the world they are in. Gabriel can't due to his contract with Kazuya, preventing him to be away from the teen and restricting him within a certain distance. Beth mused it was justified since their Commander ditched them before so having him 'shackled' served him right. Gabriel thought the two still had small grudges on his departure.

With Beth looking at the different situations around the world, mostly to check if there are any signs of having the Judeo-Christian Apocalypse happening that was for sure happened back in there home dimension. From what Gabriel could understand of his lieutenant's ramblings before they were summoned, it was somewhat averted but things went worse than the so-called Apocalypse.

Then again, the so-called Apocalypse was just a Battle Royal between his brothers.

* * *

.

Gabriel made his way to the confectionery he was a patron of, after he was stopped by Remiel. Good thing he was able to buy the last of Marriane's stock of sweets before she closed for the night. He was expecting Naoya to handle the situation with the Shomonkai but he didn't expect it to reach the streets.

Coupled with the blackout, that wasn't announced at all, it was difficult to fend off the summoned demons. Naoya came down the street from the direction of the cemetery in Aoyama, with the idea of defeating the demons clearly in mind. Good thing that Arael and Beth were in Japan that day, taking a break from their duties as his eyes and ears in both Heaven and around the world.

The binding contract that was used on him didn't apply to his lieutenants since there was already a contract active. The 'contract' of having as their Commander while they were his lieutenants in his Garrison. Apparently it was recognized by the summoning sequence, thus allowing them the freedom of movement. Not that he was complaining on his 'contract', Father knows how he have to settle down after his period of hiding from his brothers and sisters in Heaven. It was making wonders on him, to be honest.

Sending a mental alert to his lieutenants, he prepared to engage with the demons that escaped from Naoya. With the blackout hiding the conflict in its darkness, the civilians and other people won't notice something wrong outside their establishments. A flash of light appeared, albeit it was only for second, and his lieutenants were with him, ready to take on the demons. Both Arael and Beth faced demons as the years pass by, usually overseas where some stupid summoner found his hands on a summoning circle. They had experience in fighting the summoned demons, especially when there aren't any restrictions in the summoning unlike in Naoya's work.

Though the conflict was short, the damage they had done to the area won't be easy to fix. And all three of them were exhausted by the end of it. With Naoya leaving them to focus on destroying the sigils the stupid idiots made at the Cemetery, the three of them had to deal with the escaping demons. The demons summoned were an high leveled ones, a result of the botched up summoning sigil the idiots made, that defeating them and having them return to the Expanse was a struggle.

Gabriel wondered how in his Father's name did the idiots managed to summon Nergal, a Sumerian god of the netherworld, though with liberal use of Ethereal Blast he managed to kick his ass back to the Expanse. Naoya mused when he came back to them that the botched up summoning sigils they made was **so botched** **up** that it summoned a very high leveled demon. He was thankful that no one except for them were there or else many would have perished by the demon's attacks. Naoya mentioned something of a lucky escape but he denied to elaborate on it.

With the blackout in place and the presence of police in Naoya's apartment, Gabriel had to drag the younger man to his place in Shinjuku along with his lieutenants. Experienced soul or not, he wouldn't allow the kid - he's much older than the younger man - to stay around the place. Although he had to bribed not to tell the entire thing to his younger brother.

The entire day after that was a chore to handle. Naoya left the place early to investigate his brother's whereabouts while Arael and Beth reported on the presence of angels near the station. Gabriel had to investigate it as well when he felt a barrier forming around the entire area he was in.

Barricades were found at every potential exit around the Yamanote Loop and there was a barrier placed on top of the entire place. It prevented any supernatural being to get out of the place, proven when he went to Akihabara and witnessed a Magi trying to get out from the blockade by flying over the line. He was stopped by the wall and crashed messily to the ground. Thankfully he was under a concealment spell or else the JSDF stationed around the train tracks would have made minced meat of him.

Only a high ranked angel could do such a thing, making him wonder if Metatron did the entire thing. Arael and Beth reported to him after he returned to Shinjuku about the exact same thing around the entire perimeter of the Yamanote Line. All three of them also noticed the sudden influx of 'demons' around the city, though it was only in small burst and disappeared afterwards. But the rate of the appearances were rising and Gabriel can feel it won't stop.

Naoya was correct that there would be a problem in the near future when he was 'commissioned' by the Shomonkai. Gabriel hoped Naoya would tell him what was going on when they meet next time. If it wasn't for the blockade and the barrier in place, Gabriel could say things would be fine since the demons could be handled with ease as long as the public won't notice a thing.

But with those in place, the public will be forced to notice the influx of demons in the city. It would bring a ton load of problems. People are already clamoring at the stations and the exits, demanding their release and a concrete explanation of things.

"Things will get ugly here," Gabriel mused as he watched from his apartment window the scene of people raging at the soldiers in the exits along Shinjuku Station. He could feel an angel observing the situation from the top of a building across the street.

* * *

Part 6

"Whoooh! Go Haru!"

"Yeah! You're the best!"

Shouts and screams of adoration can be heard from the small crowd that formed in front of Roppongi Hills in Minato-ku in Tokyo. There were her fans, dedicated to her choice in becoming a solo artist and supporting her along the way. It was a good thing she had her guitar and sequencer with her. Along with the fact that she also had a flat there in Roppongi Hills with all of her music equipment, she could rock out to her heart's content.

But with the blackout, her options are limited. The management of the building were finicky with the use of electricity, given that they are running on generators at the moment. So she had to stick with her portable speakers to supply her music.

Harusawa Yoshino wanted to cheer up the people who were depressed in front of Roppongi Hills. With the blackout and the stuff about the barricades at the station and the exits of the city, it was understandable that people will get depressed. As a musician, its her duty to bring back the smiles to the people who lost it.

Duty... Heh.

Still, with every song she made in her impromptu stage on the front of the hotel, she made the people smile and temporarily alleviate their worries. Though they have to face it sometime soon, it would be best to face it with a light heart and a positive outlook. And her songs are something that could help it.

And was it an irony that her songs, used to help other people, couldn't help its singer in the first place?

... She was getting way into her head if she kept on think _that_. _She_ left her the sequencer with Haru with explicit instructions to continue her work. If she would falter now, that would break her promise with _her_.

"To all those suffering from the blackout blues, this song is for you!"

And with it, she continued to her next song. Her own problems could be dealt with later.

* * *

.

By the time her impromptu concert ended, it was already around 16:00. The sun was already making its orange glow to the surroundings and the summer heat was slowly being replaced by the cold commonly felt during summer nights. Although the majority of the crowd in front of her let when she ended her singing, there's a particular group near her stage that somehow reminded her of the last concert she had at Shimokitazawa.

However, before she could check out what made her feel nostalgic, a man grabbed her arm and pulled her into the hotel's lobby. Just who was this guy that thought he was entitled to do whatever he wanted? The man was wearing a suit on top of a _very **tacky**_ orange... shirt. He couldn't describe what it was and with that... scarf? Haru couldn't take the man seriously.

Especially when he went on with the goal of his cult. Was this one of the things Gin warned her to be careful of? Having an obsessed fan focused on her that he would even join a cult? No thank you, she'd rather be called a witch and burned on the stake than to join a no-name, waste of time cult.

"Learn when to quit already. Are those ears of yours for show or not? I told you, I'll be fine. I don't need of your help."

Thankfully he left after she refused his advances on her. Seriously, was he a creep or something else? Haru went outside the hotel's lobby and saw the man leaving and turning around the corner. He passed by the group of three teenagers, while making an expression of disgust at the young woman's attire. Was he for real? That girl's outfit rocked.

"Men..." Haru went to the group of teenagers, now that she remembered why she felt nostalgic. Anyone with cat-ear headphones would make a statement everywhere he would go and the redhead with them was one of her loyal fans. Even Gin was friends with the girl, ever since she started on her path as a solo artist.

"Well, what do we have here? Aren't you the gal that frequent my concerts?" Haru asked the group. The one with a blue jacket was giving her the look of surprise with the one with cat-ear headphones smiled at her and his female friend. Who had stars in her eyes. Figuratively.

"Yes! I'm surprised you remembered me! Hey guys! This is Haru, that one singer Gin was the manager of!"

So they already met Gin huh. That would make things easy. Haru fell into an easy and light conversation with the three. The boy with the cap was a Kihara Atsuro while the boy with the black with red shirt and red pants was a Minegishi Kazuya. The girl - now that she remembered it - was a Tanikawa Yuzu, who was sporting a very good looking pink cardigan with matching blue skirt and a knee length stockings? She can't remember what they're called but they're certainly not socks.

"Harusawa Yoshino, but call me Haru. I'm known for that name ever since I was in D-VA and now that I'm a solo artist, it tends to stick."

"Nice to meet you too, Haru-san," the boy with glasses said to her. Huh, polite and cute. He's her type but hey, she can't be blamed if she liked to look at some very _good_ eye candy. And she's not old, she's twenty but with the entertainment industry, her makeup just gives her the image of someone older despite her actual age _way_ below what people assumed.

"So what's with that guy?" The one with the orange sling bag remarked. Not that cute but not really ugly. A perfect example of a basic face person. No offense to him but what can she do. It comes along with job to instantly analyze one's image as a method to learn how to appeal to the public eye.

"Yeah, that strange looking man. What did want from you Haru-san?" Yuzu asked her. She can see a COMP on one of her pockets and its even in a stylish color of pink. Pink is a very nice color as long as you can handle and balance its strengths.

"Oh that guy? He wanted me to join his cult. Something about my voice as the voice of the gods... Basic cult advertisement, if you ask me," she replied. That guy was way beyond the norm. Must be forgotten immediately or in the near future.

"He looked like he came from the Shomonkai..." Minegishi-kun trailed off. Huh, now that he said it, that name was familiar.

"Anyway, he won't be bothering me soon enough. So why you three anyway? You kids liked my performance back there?"

The singer and her fan, or her fans if what Yuzu said was to be believed as true, had a very light conversation on how amazing her songs were and the fans persuading the 'non-believer' to convert into the 'Haru-ism'. It was funny and it just reminded her of the times she was in D-VA, back when _she_ was there.

"... Well, I guess we have to go our own separate ways. You said you three were going to buy some gasoline for a generator in his house?" She gestured at the boy with a cap. At least his cap hid his not hair. The cap was fashionable enough to hide his 'basic-ness'.

"Oh yeah! We forgot that. Thank you for your time Haru-san." The three bowed down in respect after the boy with glasses finished speaking. It was giving her funny feelings. Was this what _she_ felt when faced with someone younger than her? It's nice to experience again.

"Don't mention it, I'm going to get some fresh air at Nippon Budokan anyway. I need to get my 'wind' back and the atmosphere of the arena always reminds me of the concerts held there." D-VA planned to have a concert there but _she_ left and things went...

"But isn't that too far away? I mean its almost at the other side of the city!" Huh, she's worried? Why would she be worried about her?

"The walk there would be helpful to me, honestly. The air here is so... heavy that I need to get out, you get me? Besides, I need to think about my future songs. You know, inspiration and that sort?" Haru explained to the three teens.

"Oh." Kihara-kun said as he look down to his feet. Makes her feel bad for the boy but she _really_ needs to think about _those things_ again. Yesterdays was the last day _she_ was last seen by Haru and the memory of that day haunts her. She needs to straighten out her mind.

The three teens said their goodbyes to her as they rode their bikes, turning at the left corner of the street. Maybe the gasoline stations near where the house of the boy with the jacket are empty or closed? Given that the blackout started last night, the stock of gasoline at the stations must have been bought by several hotels and buildings in the city.

She also must not forget bringing the sequencer with her to the arena. It was her last memento of _her._ The rest of _her_ stuff was divided with the different members of D-VA that she barely got anything from it. If anything else, at least having the sequencer with her will make her feel better.

* * *

.

 _She_ always told her stories of how certain songs _she_ made and consequently left in her care had 'mystical' qualities. And damn were they 'mystical'. Haru had kept it a secret, a secret between sisters in all but in blood, that _she_ can call out spirits. Spirits told in stories that she personally thought were fictional ones were actually real.

Haru sat down at the steps of the arena. It was closed, obviously, since it was summer vacation and the fact that none of the caretakers were able to come that day due to the barricades along the Yamanote Loop since last night. And the fact that there was a blackout last night probably made things difficult for the caretakers.

"Why? Why did you left me with this?" She called out. Her eyes were already tearing up and her voice was already shaking. That afternoon's impromptu performance really took a lot of her energy that her voice was almost hoarse. But it doesn't matter.

What matters is that she couldn't get over the idea of _her_ disappearing on her and Gin. Gin was _her_ boyfriend and her brother figure. She was _her_ sister in all but blood and her apprentice to the entertainment industry. Haru was her friend ever since they were little, _she_ was her _senpai_ in school and thanks to _her_ that she was able to graduate earlier than other teens of her age. The fact that she was a full time musician at the age of 20 was something most people would be proud of.

But Haru doubted _she_ was proud of it. If _she_ was proud of her achievements, then why did _she_ left them? Not only her but Gin as well was feeling the pain of _her_ disappearance. He only showed it with her and some people he trusted with but to others it was like Gin wasn't affected by the news. They certainly didn't knew of their relationship.

"Was it all for nothing? Are you really -"

" **Kehhehehehehehe!~"**

What in the world? Haru stood up and saw _monsters_ surrounding her. Was she **that** unaware of her surroundings that these... _monsters_ were able to creep at her?

"Is that...?! Its Haru! Oh my gosh! Kazu! Atsuro! That's Haru over there! And demons are around her!" Huh? Was that... Yuzu? Oh my. They're so brave on trying to help her but she can handle it by herself.

"Its okay. I can take care of myself," she called out to the three. With the sequencer in her possession, she can handle these... what did Yuzu said they were? _Demons?_ Yes, _demons._ She'll just turn _that song_ on and...

***Click***

Huh? Was it really...? Once more... and...

***Click* *Click***

"I guess this is really the end for me," she whispered to herself. Guess she ran the sequencer out of its juice back at her impromptu concert and its charger was a pain to use. The sequencer was imported from the States... Or was it in Europe? She forgot. Its charger isn't compatible to the sockets in Japan and with the blackout in place...

If she was already having a bad time finding the correct socket for it or found a suitable adapter, the blackout only made it worse because there's no **power**.

" **Give us your power! Our MASTER DEMANDS YOUR COOPERATION!"**

Was this the end for her? She was already contemplating on her purpose in life. Her fans would just find a different artist to follow and Gin would understand if she wanted to go with _her_. Gin have a family in the Yamanashi Prefecture anyway, if she left him then he would focus all of his attention to the family that _may_ accept him back but...

"Haru! Stay there okay! We'll get you as soon as we can! I mean try to get away from them! Please!" Yuzu keeps on calling her. She must have idolized her that she don't want to see her die. That's okay. She can do it soon but if it does happen to her now, well there's no one to blame. And that's the truth. But...

"...Just don't get yourself hurt in the process okay?" The three of them seemed to have experience in dealing with these... demons, with the way they act and move around them. Yuzu seemed to be focused on getting herself near her that she... wait a minute.

Did they actually had some of those demons as their teammates? It looks like they are being _summoned_ to do their being. Huh. That's new. But she's too far away from her. There are demons blocking their way to her and -

"Agh!" That **hurt!** But... "Wait, I'm still alive?" Why was she still alive? Shouldn't a demon be _stronger_ than a human being that they could **kill** by a single swipe of their hands. Haru backed off towards the screens of the arena. That swipe from the flying purple demon hurt as hell but it was something she could tolerate.

"Its the Harmonizer! As long as she's in our range, she's affected by the Harmonizer as well!"

Whatever this Harmonizer is something special if it could allow them to survive a demon's attack.

"Haru! I'm coming for you!" Yuzu called out to her as she was being lifted by floating girl with hair was its wings. Weird.

"You kids should leave me alone okay? You should be the one who must run," she reasoned out to the redhead. Was it not clear that she wants to be alone?

"No! I won't allow that!"

"...Hehe. Just don't get yourself hurt in the process," Haru quipped back. If only the sequencer wasn't dead, then she could call out to the demon she usually summons to protect her. But that demon was picky since it, or she, liked to listen to her songs before defeating the demons she attracted. She also prefers to lounge around and play with that stringed instrument of hers.

Kihara-kun was punching the demons with a mop while his... demons were busy blasting their fellow demons with fire and lightning. Yuzu was busy with throwing the red figures with her own balls of fire while the floating girl with her was making green swirls of wind around them. It knocked some of the floating midgets with rakes in their hands into the ground.

The two were amazing but as she was rolling away from the strikes of the pink menaces, she noticed that the Minegishi kid was much more interesting to her. At first he seemed to be doing nothing but the more she observed she could see him doing something with his hands. As if he was 'projecting' something towards his friends.

A barrier. Everytime he 'projects', a translucent barrier will appear in front of Yuzu and Kihara-kun, negating the incoming attack from the demons. He wasn't only a defensive person since he counters an incoming attack from a demon who got close to him by blasting it with a purple ball of energy. He can also do well in the offense but from the looks of it, he prefer to do the shielding for his friends. Though she only spent a moment observing the kid, he already endeared him to her.

Minegishi-kun caught her interest. He's polite, cute and also deadly, based on the resulting explosion of his attack, leaving the demons nothing but scattered ashes. He's also quite protective of his friends, proven by his ability to create barriers around them to prevent any damage reaching their persons.

**"Fools! Call the rest of our brethren! We must have the power of this human with us in time! For Our Master!"**

The floating thing with a rake screamed out causing the other demons to cry out as well. The resulting noise they made managed to disorient her supposedly rescuers and herself, the volume of their cries temporarily made Haru's ear hurt and also the ones near them. Yuzu and Kihara-kun were clutching their ears while their demons stood in confusion. She would have observed what the teen with glasses' reaction but the sudden leap towards her of a hooded deer demon forced Haru to scramble down the steps of the arena and towards the parking area.

A cloud of dust exploded in front of her, a result of a missed lightning and wind attack by the demons at her, which made her unable to see clearly where she's going. Haru hoped she won't hit a tree on the way while stumbling over her legs in desperation, away from the demons. She may have thoughts of letting the demons kill her a while ago but the pain she felt afterwards immediately made her think otherwise. Unfortunately she tripped over a parking stopper/barrier a moment later, which was a good thing since she can feel something pass by above her back.

She can feel something was different immediately when she rose up from her fall. The air was heavy like she was at the middle of the road in a traffic jam. There wasn't any smoke or anything but there was a slight discoloration in the air. As if someone threw a bottle of paprika, chili pepper flakes and curry powder up in the air and as if lightning would fell upon her location, with how her skin seemed to crawl by just being there.

A flash of light and another demon appeared, however this time it was the same one Yuzu had with her. A floating girl with hair acting as its wings, it flew towards her and grabbed her legs. Haru almost dropped the sequencer when she was grabbed. The girl was cackling and gave her a look that doesn't seemed to be appropriate on her small face.

The demon was about to speak something to her but a gust of wind swept around them with a tinge of green in it, causing the floating girl to groan in pain that lead to her being freed. Looking around her, Haru saw Yuzu and her friends rushing towards her. Yuzu's hand began to glow and she can feel the bruises - must be from the force of that demon's grip on her - on her legs heal and disappear. Atsuro's demons were floating behind me, glancing the surroundings around them, while hers were making sparkles around their persons.

She also received a shower of sparkles and she felt better instantly. It was as if she just lost her accumulated fatigue of the entire day but that would be ridiculous. Still, Haru felt better than she was before. Even before she was grabbed by the floating demon girl.

"The air felt heavy. Can you feel it Atsuro?" Yuzu spoke out loud. She would have replied but Kihara-kun was faster.

"Its like... Something is coming out. Look at that!" And another demon popped out from the swirling mass of red. "Demons are coming out from the miasma!" Miasma huh. Excellent choice of word, Atsuboy. Fits perfectly since the air around them is very unpleasant.

"Ugh. Wairas. I feel like I can't cast more Agis. Maybe for a few more minutes but after that I'm done," the girl in pink said as she raised her arm and a COMP was aimed towards the demons. Now that she saw one upclose, Haru noticed all three of them had COMPs with them and were using them as some sort of scanner. "Great. A Kikimora, a couple of Hairy Jacks, three Gagysons and a Tlaloc. Where do these demons come from anyway? Could they appear as they want to now without someone summoning them?"

"Look at the middle of the miasma Yuzu! There's a COMP!" The four of them honed into one of the miasma around them and saw a COMP that appeared to be glitching out. Complete with flashing lights and was most likely making screeches commonly connected to the sound made when one makes a fatal error on a computer. "That's the source of the miasma! I bet it is!" the cap wearing teen stated out loud for them.

"Is it possible for the demons to find a way to 'hack' the Program and make it into a portal for them to come out?" the teen with glasses remarked as motioned for his demons to charge. "Sure looks like its possible for them. Look at that one over at the top of the van."

Haru looked over to the direction where a mini-van was parked and a purple winged demon - a Gagyson according to Yuzu - was punching some buttons in the COMP. It then thew it into the ground and proceeded to cry out in... happiness? The COMP then began to flash in a very unstable manner, even though the COMP was a bit far from them Haru could see sparks began to come out from the COMP.

" _For our Lord Beldr! We will use the power of that woman to bring our Lord back to our side!_ " A shout was made behind them cried out in _English_ \- which wasn't understood by the two teens with the exception of the one with the glasses - that made them to turn around. A man with blond hair wearing dark hued clothes with a unique crest on its shirt's breast pocket in the shape of a diamond and was waving some kind of tarpaulin with his hands.

He then threw the tarpaulin down on the ground and slashed his palms with a something sharp, making it bleed on the sketches printed on it. Now that she can see clearly, Haru observed several more of the tarpaulins the man had scattered around the entire parking lot. All of them were forming connecting to each other through the sketches, as if the sketches themselves were just divided amongst the tarpaulins. Was he with the demons who attacked her? Was he the one who sent them to her?

The sketches that had blood now on them - which made Haru a bit squeamish at the sight of it - began too glow as the man started to chant in a very low voice. Around them, the miasmas began to pour out demons, slowly surrounding them one by one in the parking lot. Although the sun was already began to set and the darkness was slowly creeping at their surroundings, the miasmas where the demons came from glowed with an otherworldly color of red that by some reason illuminated the area.

"What is he doing?! Is he seriously _summoning_ more demons?!"

"When I mentioned that there could be rituals that would allow one to summon one, I wasn't wishing that I will be partaking in it! Where the hell did he came from anyway?!"

"Oh brother. Not one of them. Okay, that's it. I'm so done with this. I'm gonna wreck these demons up and beat the good that they won't think of doing this stunt ever again," the teen with a black shirt cried out as he motioned his demons to return. "Yuzu, Atsuro, please watch my back. I doubt I would be able to stand after this. I'm gonna make the stars fall tonight!"

Fuck her life. She isn't a damsel in distress yet thanks to her actions that afternoon, she was given that part and her safety depends on three kids younger than her. And one of the the, the cute one, would be doing something _stupid_ just to end things quick. Hearing a shout from her back, Haru ducked her head as an shard of ice flew by above her, which prompted her to look behind.

"I swear, didn't _you_ and Nii-sama razed down their base?" Minegishi-kun spoke out loud, a thing the two teen behind didn't noticed since they were busy fending off the demons summoned behind them. He was met by silence and spoke again, "Huh. So the survivors decided to follow us here? ...Okay then. Let's show them what they did was a bad idea."

The two behind her were grumbling about 'stronger than before' and 'reflected' while the one before her was slowly walking towards the group of demons. He was speaking something in a low volume that she couldn't hear anymore. Haru was about to stand up when she saw a light from the skies. It was bright, too bright.

...Fuck her life.

* * *

Part 7

There wasn't any sound that can be heard in the room she was in. Not even a cricket can be heard and its summer, cricket are _supposed_ to be out and making their chirping noises, annoying people who are attempting to get a good night's sleep by their incessant chirps. The window of the guest room was halfway open, allowing a small breeze to come through it and bringing in a fresh wave of air to the room.

She just laid there, under the covers of the blankets, wide awake and thinking. Or contemplating. Contemplating on the things that happened to her the whole day. Atsuro was at his room, most likely watching their best friend sleeping. The entire house was silent, the generator was turned off to save gasoline and their COMPs still on at the nearest table within their reach. Its still playing the inaudible [Harmonizer], a necessity they learned during their trip back at Akasaka.

From her experience from the impromptu camping trip in a _cemetery_ to a city-wide race in searching for an exit outside the Yamanote Loop to a mad scramble to save the life of a group of civilians from a demon they had encountered the day before, she wasn't expecting it to end in a very _weird_ way. Good thing that the possessed man had a car with him when he ambushed Haru at Nippon Budokan in Kudanshita. It was also stocked up with fuel. Without it, they wouldn't have made back to Atsuro's house before night fell. And with the blackout still in place, the entire city would be too dark for them to walk around and the fact that they actually confirmed demons could summon their fellow demons through the COMPs implied that demons _may_ be waiting for them in the darkness of the city.

Rising up from the bed, she grabbed the COMP at her bedside and went outside the guest room. She could hear Atsuro's soft whispers and Kazu's hoarse mumbling at the next room. Knocking to let Atsuro know she was there, she opened the door slowly. "Hey, can't sleep as well?"

"I should be the one asking you that but that would be pointless, right?" he replied without turning back. He was on his seat by the study table. It was near the window where it was also halfway open, letting in the summer breeze enter and the moonlight to shine in.

"Yeah... So how's he right now?" Yuzu gestured to the sleeping teen. Kazu's headphones were on the bedside table along with his COMP and music player. Just like their own COMPs, it was also on. On the floor, the _enchanted_ backpack that contained all of their belongings was placed. Belongings to which they reclaimed after arriving at Akasaka around 15:00.

"He said he will be fine in the morning but we have to watch out for anything strange because he once managed to walk outside his room and fell down the stairs. Sleep walking may be unusual but..." Atsuro stood up and went towards the window. He gazed into the scenery outside and made a sigh.

"I know, I know. What about you though? You better get some rest even if for a while. Better yet, let's just stick to your room. I'll just get the comforter in the other room and I'll be with you two here." She rummaged through the _enchanted_ backpack Kazu had and pulled out a COMP Charger. "Hey, look at this. Isn't this one of those chargers for the COMPs? The wind up one? I wonder where did he got it though."

"...Were you looking for a snack in his bag, Yuzu? Sorry, we went through the last batch when we were on the road," Atsuro said as he returned to his seat and grabbed his COMP from the study table. He then tinkered with the gadget. "You go and get the comforters. I'll be getting mine soon from the closet after I checked the e-mails and other things."

Atsuro was wearing a pair of shorts and a sleeveless shirt while she was wearing the same as well, except hers were in an orange and red combo while Atsuro's was in a blue and white combination. Their _'charmed'_ clothes were out in the laundry room, drying out from the wash Atsuro did when they arrived from the arena. Even Kazu's clothes were changed by Atsuro, since he was filthy from his crash to the ground. Yuzu surmised Atsuro had to take care of himself a lot of times that he isn't really ashamed that Yuzu was witnessing all of his 'domestic' actions.

She went out of the room and went down the stairs towards the kitchens. Using the COMP's flashlight, she found herself a glass of mineral water from the water jug Atsuro brought back from his house's storage room. She was thirsty and Yuzu needed to refresh herself up before going back.

Yuzu also took notice of Haru sleeping by the couch of Atsuro's living room. She was dead tired from the events back at the arena and the trip they took to get back at Akasaka. Haru was the one who drove them all the way from Nippon Budokan, because neither of them two knew how to drive a vehicle. Slowing tiptoeing towards the female singer at the sofa, she pulled the blanket up from her legs in an effort to warm singer's body and prevent her from getting cold.

Pleased with herself, she climbed up the stairs back to the guest room and collected the comforters on the bed. Atsuro's parents were filthy rich by the quality of the comforters they had in use.

* * *

.

The three of them were victorious against the Wendigo but it couldn't be said to be the same to the bikers they met. If not frozen solid, then they're way too gone for her Healing Spells to have any use. Yuzu had to run out of the amusement park and into the streets just to get away from the dead people they weren't able to help. Her best friends followed her outside, attempting to calm her down.

With their failure fresh in her mind, she was consoled when Atsuro reminded her that _they_ managed to evade their supposed deaths. That they were actually _supposed_ to die back there was something she should take into consideration. Yuzu thought it was unfair that they weren't able to save them yet they were able to save themselves. Kazu remarked that they couldn't save everyone.

To take away her attention from their failure, Kazu explained to them how he was able to contract with an angel using the _demon_ summoning program. He explained that demon is an catch-all for any supernatural being and that includes angels, devils, goddesses, gods, manifestations of the elements and even spirits of heroes. As he was scourging the Auctions, he was able to delve into the Compendium's contents and found the classifications of the _demons_. Thus the reasoning why beings regarded as enemies of demons can be summoned by a _Demon Summoning Program_. He also told them that their Death Clocks raised to two.

Overjoyed by the revelation of their safety, she persuaded the two to continue in their quest to find an exit. She privately considered it as a way to payback to the fallen bikers. She would find an exit for their sake. They were doing the same when the demons decided to attack.

They found their way to Akihabara Station by following the main highways. Yuzu noticed that people weren't out of their houses and establishments. Either they're afraid to come out because of the demons she and her friends had defeated or they prefer not to get out from their homes, clearly attempting to get some rest since it was summer break. If she was back in her house and there was a blackout, she wouldn't even bother going out and try to get some rest while waiting for the power to return.

Unlike the other stations they went to, the Akihabara Station was empty of the people she and her friends were customized to see from the start of the day. Although there are still soldiers found at the station, train tracks and the roads leading out of the Yamanote Loop, the people Yuzu expected to have been mulling around were strangely absent. On the other hand, the nearby buildings and establishments were open with customers actively participating in having some sort of conversation with their fellow customers.

"Hey, Yuzu, Atsuro. Mind we visit Tsuki-chan for a moment? I would also want you guys to see the shopping district since you two have magic now," Kazu said as he perked up after they passed by a slightly decrepit tea shop that was somehow functional. "She works there at the tea shop, if you're curious."

"Huh. Okay then. I really want to take a break, to be honest. We've been travelling from Shibuya to Akihabara almost non-stop now," she remarked as she entered the tea shop after Kazu went in first. Atsuro was behind her, looking around at the buildings surrounding the shop.

"Hey! Maya-san! Is Tsuki-chan here?" her best friend called out as he led her and Atsuro to a small table at the corner of the shop. The shopkeeper, a middle-aged woman who was washing some cups at the counter when they entered the shop, said in return, "She just went out a minute before you three went in Kazu. Tsuki-chan will be back soon enough, she just went to buy some of my patches at the nearby herb shop. And who are with you today?"

The shopkeeper, Maya, gave them a curious look before she turned her back to them and took a towel form the upper shelves at the cabiner behind her. She then went to wipe the cups. "They haven't been to the district before, Maya-san. And they're new to the area since Tanikawa-san here is from... Shinjuku, right? And Kihara-kun is from... overseas. Specifically from America," Kazu continued.

Atsuro gave her a look, giving her the unspoken message of ' _is this for real?_ ' to her. She could only raise her eyebrow to Atsruo when the shopkeeper made a laugh, a very light one. "Being a good samaritan huh. That's fine with me. So what you guys want? I serve tea here and even though Tsuki-chan would often be the one doing the serving, I'm gonna do it since I sent her for an errand."

Kazu ordered them some tea she forgot the names of and as soon the orders were made he left them to somewhere he only knew of. Maya-san laughed when Kazu left them and went to collect some biscuits from the display case she had on the counter. "You know, this place acts like a cafe sometimes but this is a tea shop for most of the cases. He'll be back. The shopping district is just a few a meters ahead of the shop but to pass through the barrier, they need to have some sort of a 'permission' from me. I'm the so-called guard of the barrier," Maya-san said as a blond haired girl came in from the front entrance.

"Maya-san! Here's your patches! Aiko-san told me to tell you about her sudden infestations of flies at their shop. Oh! Who are these guys you were talking to Maya-san?" the girl, who's a bit younger than them but was much older compared to the other younger girl they had met. Yukine, the while owl the group had met in Ikebukuro Station, was on her shoulder and immediately flew towards them while making noises only an owl could make. "Huh. Oh! You are with Kazuya-kun, right? Only Yuki here would react like that if she had already met the person previously. Where's he anyway?"

"He... He just left," Yuzu answered for the girl dressed in a blouse and skirt the passed beyond her knees. She also wore an apron, quite fitting for her to wear since she's working in a tea shop/cafe. "Maya-san said he would be visiting the shopping district about a few meters ahead."

"...He won't be able to enter it. I don't know how or when it happened but the gateway to the shopping district wasn't working when I checked it a few hours ago. Maybe they were 'upgrading' it, so to say?" the blond girl said, pulling a seat from a nearby table and pushing it towards their table. She then sat down and introduced herself. "Where are my maners. I'm Yoshida Tsuki, call me Tsuki. Are you classmates of Kazuya-kun? He tells me stories of how he have 2 best friends that are so dear to him." Tsuki-chan then gave them a smile so bright as if the sun was shining. Or the moon. Whatever.

The girl then bowed her head. "I must thank you then for being there with him. He really needs friends like you two ever since..." She trailed off and silence began to fall in the small shop. Maya-san then called out from the counter, "I'll be at the back, Tsuki-chan!"

"Okay!" Tsuki-chan then let out a deep breath. "I know you two have some questions for me. Who am I that I could say I'm worried for him? What did happened that allowed us to meet and be friendly? And why there's a white owl with me?"

Atsuro answered for them, "I'd go with the first and second questions, the last one was already answered when we met this owl at Ikebukuro Station." He then pointed the owl who was sleeping on a perch at the corner of the shop. "I also have some questions but I can give them later, after I heard the first two answers."

"Hm... I'm Yoshida Tsuki, I met Kazuya-kun outside the country. As you can see from my appearance, I work here in Abenobashi as a attendant and waitress for the customers. But I guess that's not what you want to hear, am I right?"

Atsuro nodded. Yuzu, on the other hand, was silent all throughout their conversation and was just watching them have a serious talk. Tsuki-chan was giving them a look that was implying she was considering what to say to them.

"I'm pretty sure that I'm gonna break my promise with him by saying this but, did you two knew he came from England? A country in Europe?" She and Atsuro gave her a nod. "Oh good, then I'm assured that I didn't broke his trust on me. Well, I'm from England as well, things were pretty bad back there."

"Why did you left there? And how did you two met?" Yuzu asked her.

"Hm... How should I say this... I'm under what you two could say a 'Witness Protection Program'," the blond girl said with a smile.

And with that the blond girl gave them a story of how she was abducted by a group of people who worked under the maniac that terrorized the country. She was with Kazu, who was kidnapped as well by the same group, at the time when something terrible happened that caused her to enter the said 'Witness Protection Program'. Unlike other victims of the said abduction, only the two of them survived because the group went into killing the hostages after the authorities came to their rescue.

Tsuki-chan apparently knew the identities of some of the escaped kidnappers so she decided to leave the country and hid from them by seeking refuge/asylum in Japan. With the help of Kazu and his brother Naoya, her application was approved. She abandoned her old name and took a completely new identity.

"Though, by the fact that he brought you two here means you guys are aware of magic, I could tell you that my real appearance is hidden through magic. Very strong one that allowed me to hide from my kidnappers," the blond girl said as she took a bite from the cookie served to them.

"...Where's your family, if you don't mind me asking, and are they aware of what happened to you?" Atsuro asked her.

"Dad was kidnapped with me. Our abduction was a bit... personal for them because my dad was only an editor of our very own magazine. It's a concentrated on plants and animals so the idea they did such a thing because of business is so unlikely. Maybe dad had some dealings with them in the past? My mother died back when I was 8," the girl with an orange shirt said. "Now that I mentioned it, maybe they had a thing with my mother's death since she was working under one of the people I saw back there. He used to come at our place back until I'm 10."

"That's sad."

"Its okay, I'm used to it right now. I'm more or less capable of handling myself nowadays. Even before when the kidnapping happened I was already working at my dad's magazine, writing articles about unheard flora and fauna. Besides, I didn't have much attachments to that country anyway..."

Someone made a cough from the shop's doorway, making them turn around. It was Kazu.

"So, what dirty secrets have you been telling them, Kaguya-sama?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

"Kazuya-sama, please forgive my actions. I was only telling them how you once forgot to bring your wallet one time and you had to wash all of the dishes just to pay for the food one of Naoya's friend ate."

"Hey! That never happened!"

So it seems that the two of them really had some history.

"Why didn't he introduced her to them before?" she asked the teen beside her. The two went outside to have a talk, leaving her and Atsuro in the shop all alone.

"I think its because of the existence of magic and the fact she's under a 'Witness Protection Program, Yuzu," Atsuro whispered to her.

"...Oh! You had a point there."

"Anyway, let's finish the biscuits and tea. It would be a waste."

* * *

.

When Kazu and Tsuki-chan finished whatever they were talking back at Abenobashi, the group said their goodbyes to the shopkeeper and her attendant. As they passed by the Akihabara Station, the group met another group who were checking out the station. They came all the way from Shinagawa Station and were planning to check the other stations for a potential exit. Yuzu and her friends had to tell them of the status of the other stations to save their time, since they were also grateful of their help in telling them the news.

She was more inclined to not have them pass by Metropolitan Express No. 5 or through Suidobashi, just in case there are any surviving demons lurking at the amusement park.

Decided to their new destination would be Atsuro's house in Akasaka, the group changed their plans accordingly and went through the main roads towards Aksaka Station. Atsuro's house was near the subway station, according to her best friends, so with the station as their goal, they wouldn't get lost on the road. Kazu bought some food and other stuff from an open supermarket when they passed by Ōtemachi Station. Yuzu took it as a break from the long ride they did from Akihabara while Atsuro used it as a moment to stretch out his legs.

Taking note of the subway station near them, she went inside to inquire if the trains inside the loop were functioning, at the very least. Yuzu came out of the station disappointed and afraid when the people inside the station expressed their frustrations to her. Atsuro and Kazu had to console her when she came back up from the underground train station.

Apparently, when the blackout happened the night before, the trains shut down midway between the stations. The trains were all working on electricity so when the power was cut off, the trains stopped working. Working together, the stranded passengers had to crawl out of the train and walked in the dark towards the stations after an hour of waiting. Add the fact that they had to stay at the station for the night and only to find out that the entire city's exits were barricaded by the JSDF, all of them were pissed when Yuzu asked if they trains were working.

With the idea of using the subways was crossed off from their potential modes of transport, the group rode their way from Ōtemach to Tameike-Sannō Station. There it was only a few meters to the Akasaka Subway Station and Atsuro's house.

Yuzu mused that the demons were surprisingly absent after their encounter near Suidobashi. Kazu brought up his opinion that they were more or less dependent on the Wendigo's decisions and with the defeat of the Wendigo, they had no purpose to chase them. He also reminded that they had swept the entire place clean after they finished the Wendigo so the idea there would be remaining demons was unlikely at most.

Since she had any chance to visit Atsuro's house before, which was so near the station, Yuzu followed her best friends to the house that stood out from the scenery. The neighborhood was full of buildings, often companies or apartment complexes, that a house that stood in a middle of a obviously private lot would attract such attention from passersby. Both of her best friends implied that his house have a water tank that would supply them with water and a generator that could supply them with electricity.

* * *

.

She entered the room with the comforters in her arms. Yuzu could see that their green eyed friend was still fast asleep while Atsuro was busy typing on his COMP. The COMPs that Naoya gave to them were the brand new models she saw being advertised a month ago. They were small enough to fit in your pockets but since they're collapsible, the actual size of the COMP was larger than its implied size.

The screens were touchscreens, able to pull out a keyboard in its interface for easy typing instead of the much older models' method of having buttons to manually designate the key and had 4 buttons to enter it. The newer models were based on an overseas gadget called tablet while the older ones were designed to emulate a GameBoy. Yuzu was thankful that Naoya used the newer ones because the older ones were tacky and weren't that useful. She had one back at her home, a gift from her father before they discovered his other family, and Yuzu could agree with Atsuro's complaint of it as a 'much better GameBoy than a communication gadget'.

Atsuro was typing something on his COMP, probably a reply to Naoya since he sent an e-mail to them a while ago. She laid down her comforter after Atsuro made a grunt, acknowledging her arrival, and proceeded to rummage with Kazu's bag.

"Say Atsuro, where did you put the food we cooked before?"

"Its in a different bag, the it has the word FOOD on it. Our water bottles and drinks are in a different one, it has WATER on it.," he said in reply. "Aaaand there. Hope Naoya reads it before he go to sleep."

"What did he sent to you anyway?"

"He said sorry. The private server used by our COMPs couldn't handle traffic made by e-mails since they were busy with handling the requests made by the _Summoning Program_ ," Atsuro replied as he rose up from his stool and went to his study table. "I forgot to explain stuff to you before so this would be the perfect time to do it."

"Okay, to start off. According to Naoya, he made the server used by the COMPs as a job for the Shomonkai. They wanted him to make a private server where only they could use, security purposes probably. He came clean to me just a while ago, admitting he also wrote the _Summoning Program_ but he **didn't** wrote the apps like [Auction], [Cathedral] and [Profiles]." Atsuro explained to her.

"So why did he made it in the first place?" Yuzu asked. Why would he even try to make a program that is supposed to _summon_ **demons** _._ "Isn't it kinda dangerous and... illegal?"

"To be honest, I couldn't even imagine why would he want to do such a thing but he admitted it was a private project of his. But the Shomonkai threatened him by some method that he **had** to comply with their request. I read Kazu's mails and I think the Shomonkai _had_ something to do with him. So I guess they used Kazu as a bargaining chip to make Naoya work for them."

"That's crazy!" Were they the one who made him this way? Did they do something to her best friend that he suffered from random blank-outs, spontaneous bursts of emotion - yesterday's outburst instantly came to her mind - and a _possible_ personality disorder. "What did Naoya tell you? Did he said something else?"

Atsuro nodded. "Anyway, the Shomonkai had some very deep connection with the government or something that they could confront the group directly. I think he implied he's working on it for a while." He then pulled out a sheet of paper and some pens. "We're getting back to my lesson, you asked how the COMPs could summon demons while its just a simple gadget right?"

"Yeah, I think I asked it when we were in the car."

"Think about this, the COMP is just a switch while the server Naoya made is the actual machine doing everything. Using the COMP, we send a request to the server and the server does it. It gets returned to the requester, that is the COMPs, and we got the result. Just like an hair dryer? You press the switch and the hot air began to come out of it. The COMPs work like that while the server I mentioned is the machine inside the blower," Atsuro told her while he showed her his sketch of his explanation.

She bonked his head with his flashlight in annoyance. "You really didn't have to do that, you know? I'm not _that_ dumb."

"Sorry, I'm just... restless. That's it. From the entire thing in the arena to the fact that there were helicopter up in the sky when we came back, I can't feel we're safe now. Especially when my neighbors seemed to have evacuated to the nearby schools because of the so-called 'poisonous gas leaks' near the underground stations," he said with a exasperated sigh.

* * *

.

"Dammit. I forgot we ran out of gasoline," Atsuro exclaimed as he went back inside the house. He just went to the generator located at the back of his house a while ago but from his reaction, he wasn't expecting what he just encountered there.

"So, that means we have to get some gasoline huh? Yuzu, you done changing you clothes? We could just leave the one we used yesterday in the laundry. Let them soak in the detergent, right?" Kazu asked her as he came from the kitchen area of the house, finished changing his clothes at the ground floor bathroom. She used the second floor bathroom to take a shower. Though she isn't used to a shower because her house doesn't have one and it wasn't really a Japanese thing, she just went with it. It may have been an effect from how much time Atsuro's parents were working in America that they brought some of the Western culture back to Japan.

Case in point, the entire house seemed to be a bit... modern than what she imagined. The entire design of the house looked it came from one of the housekeeping magazines her mother subscribed to, even the decorations around the house gave off the feeling of the 'American Dream' - a thing she had learned from reading the American magazines her mother had in her house -.

"Yeah! I'm done! I've gotta say Kazu, these clothes you bought for us to wear are pretty neat. Its summer yet I don't feel the heat, and I'm wearing sleeves!" she commented and showed off the pink cardigan she was given to wear. "So we're buying some gasoline for the generator? How many and much would it cost us?"

"I'll be covering it for us," Kazu volunteered for them. "What's with the strange looks?"

"How come you have lot of money anyway?"

"Yeah, I was about to ask the same thing. I know that we were originally planning to have an out-of-the-city trip but... Seriously, you paid for the bikes, you paid for the ramen we had for lunch, you also paid for the... groceries. How much were you even carrying?" Yuzu asked her best friend. He gave them a sheepish smile in reply instead and went to the front door.

"I may have withdrew a bit more than what I intended when I went to Akihabara yesterday. You guys might have forgotten it when I was explaining about magic at the Electric Museum so..." He opened the door and took the backpack hanging at the shoe closet beside it. "They have their own currency and you can covert it to yen and vice versa. In fact, I'm filthy rich in the magical communities!" Then Kazu ran out of the door and off towards the gate.

"Hey come back here! What do you mean by filthy rich?! Hey! Hey!" She scrambled down the stairs, clutching the sling bag with her COMP in it while Atsuro chased off their best friend out of the house.

"Oi! You're not joking, right?! Seriously?!"

* * *

.

"Hey, what's up with our Death Clocks anyway? Kazu said ours are 2 while the ones we met throughout the day were 6. He even said that Naoya had 6 on his head. When I heard it from him, I began to doubt my initial thought of him playing a trick with us. But..." She shook her head as she laid down on the comforter. The breeze coming from the half opened window was cool enough for them not to feel hot but not too cold for them shiver. But if push comes to shove, she'll close the windows.

Just because Kazu had an 'magic spell' that can cure their ailments doesn't mean she want to test it out.

"I don't really know, Yuzu. I don't really know. I just want to read tomorrow's Laplace Mail. Today was about our potential death at Suidobashi and the news about the barricades at the exits around Yamanote Loop." Atsuro sighed as he thew up his arms up in the air and stretched. "The Death Clocks _predicts_ the possible days left of a person, something like that one American movie we saw last time, the one where one's lifespan is a commodity and currency in their world."

"Yeah, I remember that. It's creepy now that you reminded me of it. Do you think that there would be more of us tomorrow?"

"What do you meant by _us_?"

"I mean people with COMPs that could see the Death Clocks. Didn't Naoya sent us all an e-mail about the Death Clocks would be seen by people who had COMPs? The... man at the arena... he had a COMP. And the Priestess... What was her name again? Kuzuryu?" She opened up her COMP and scanned through her e-mails. "Yeah, Kuzuryu. Kuzuryu-san had a COMP as well. Do you think there would me more of us tomorrow? People like us that could see how many days we have left before we die?"

"...I would be lying if I say no. **Someone** is spreading the COMPs and I doubt its Naoya. He admitted to me that he had only 5 of the COMPs with the _program_ and he gave three to us, one to an acquaintance of his and one for himself. If he would be tricking me, he wouldn't include other people in this mess. Especially when he said this was for our safety."

The last statement Atsuro made caught her attention. "Our... safety?!" She almost screamed but with her best friend (and potential boyfriend) sleeping at the room, she immediately toned it down. "He _sent_ us to the Cemetery! He practically sent us off to the place when he sent that e-mail of his yesterday!"

"Yuzu, did you really think Naoya would send us off to _die_ there? He sent us to be safe there. When we came out of the cemetery this morning, the streets of Omotesando were wrecked. As in _wrecked_. The cars and the shops' windows are broken and the road were full of holes. I think there was even a blast mark at a corner but many people just ignored it. And remember, the people stranded at the stations said the trains stopped working around 17:00 or even earlier than that. We were potential targets of whatever demons that got out that night."

She made a groan in return. "But... Fine. Because he knew that the Shomonkai were there to catch whoever summoned those demons just like at the arena, right?"

"Probably." He trailed off. Making a glance to the COMP on her hand, which was on the main menu, Yuzu noticed the unfamiliar applications in it.

"Um, Atsuro. Did you check what's with these applications that got installed in our COMPs after you... you know, tinkered with it?" She was curious by the application but was unsettled by the connotations the names implied. A ' _Cathedral of Shadows_ ' isn't really a term she would connect with rainbows and kittens.

"I... I think I got the hang of it. The Auction house feels like I'm just attending an online sale of gadgets while the Cathedral... Uh... I don't know how to explain it but..." Atsuro then stood up and went closer to her. "Look, let me show you. Pull up the application."

She brought up the application and the screen changed into a very weird... chemistry table? There were a _table_ for... _fusions_? How did Kazu understood all of this?

"Its like chemistry to me. The... demons Kazu contracted or bought in the Auction are instantly registered here in the Cathedral for um... _fusion purposes_. I think we uh... _fuse_ demons into a brand new but different demon."

"What?"

"Yeah, that was my reaction when I tested it this evening while you heated up a microwavable meal in my microwave. Like I said, its like chemistry. You mix two chemicals and you get a different chemical right? The same works here but its kinda different."

"...Demons are so weird. To think there are _angels_ that could be summoned by the _Demon Summoning Program_ and now. We can actually _fuse_ them. What is this, Alchemy?" Yuzu then stared into Atsuro, causing the boy to flinch. "Don't think about it."

"I wasn't thinking anything!"

* * *

.

Strangely, the gasoline stations they went to had all of their supplied _drained dry_ ever since that morning. Which made Kazu _curse_ in anger since they had went to a total of **10** gasoline stations, all the way from Akasaka to Roppongi Hills. According to one of the attendants, who was asleep when they came by, a strange man came to them that morning with a truck full of empty barrels with the purpose of buying **all** of their stock. He paid obviously in cash, with the lack of power, and the transaction was done without any fuss.

And that was the same thing every attendant in all of the stations said to them when they asked the reason of their empty stocks. **All ten of the gasoline stations** and it pissed Kazu off _quite bad_.

When the passed by Roppongi Hills, with the goal of trying out any gasoline stations with a stock of gasoline with them, a small concert was being held. The tune of the songs were somewhat familiar to her and, curiously, to Kazu as well. Decided to check it out, Yuzu was taken back by the sight she saw.

Her idol, the indie solo singer, Haru, was having a concert in front of the hotel in Roppongi Hills. Even with a portable speakers and a sequencer with her, she _rocked_ the people who were listening to her sings and, pun intended, _blasted away_ the frustrations of the stranded people who were suffering from the blackout and the barricaded exits in the city.

Kazu, the most illusive person in the world with his choice of music, was tapping his feet to the tune of Haru's songs and was even bobbing his head every once in a while, also to the beat of Haru's songs. It only cemented her theory of him being one of Haru's avid fans and him being [ **ariaAficionado** ] on the forum where Haru was being discussed. That person was very... _enthusiastic_ with their words. Atsuro though, he wasn't... feeling it. She can't blame him, some people just don't have the _taste_.

When the small concert was over, Haru was _manhandled_ by a man with a dark black longcoat that had a strange flower decoration on the collar - which was somewhat familiar to her - into the hotel's lobby. Good thing she was stopped by her headphoned best friend from running to the hotel because Haru managed to make the man leave her alone. The man left her, passing them while giving them strange looks.

Haru then honed into them, intrigued by their eagerness in showing their love to her songs and performance. Yuzu and her friends had a very _delightful_ conversation with Haru, she even got to introduce her friends and herself to her idol _personally_. They were then shooed by Haru after reminding them of their original purpose before they stopped by her performance. By the time she and her friends had been a few meters away from Roppongi Hills and Haru had returned to the confines of the hotel, Kazu made a comment.

"She's zero."

"What? What do you... No. No. Nononononono. There's no way! You're kidding right?!"

Kazu just turned away from her gaze. Atsuro then interjected for him, "Then we must find some gasoline _then_ follow Haru-san to the arena! She said she was going there, right? Maybe someone would ambush her there!"

"No! We must tell her **now**!"

Her best friend then grabbed her shoulders before she could run across the street towards Roppongi Hills. "Would she even believe you? Tell me Yuzu, would she _really_ believe you? No, she wouldn't. No one would." He gave a sigh and climbed up on his bike. "We're gonna find a gasoline station, grab any gasoline cans, barrels, whatever and scram off to the arena. I don't care if they're gonna call us thieves. I'm not going to go back at Atsuro's place without accomplishing what we came here nor I'm gonna stand by and let Haru die. We defied our fate a few hours ago, who says we can't do the same for her?"

Atsuro nodded in agreement. "At least in this case, there aren't demons involved in it. Do you think its the Shomonkai man who would do the deed?"

"No, I don't... Well now that you mentioned it, it likely. Anyway, whoever this... attacker of Haru wouldn't do it in front of many people and in public. Didn't she said she was going to the arena in front of us? I bet some of the people there could hear her remark," he said as he sped up. With Atsuro and her following Kazu's lead, he continued, "You with me guys?"

"Absolutely." "No problem."

* * *

.

"Hey, Atsuro. Do you think that there's any truth to what the person on the helicopter said a few hours ago? About the poisonous gas in the subways?"

"Hm... I doubt so. If there were, then why would there be people hiding there from the heat during the day? Didn't you just went through one of their... _rants_?" Atsuro said with a smirk.

"...Funny Atsuro. I'm being serious here."

"Nah. I think they're doing for some purpose but as far as I can tell, its not really harmful. In fact, its a blessing in disguise for some. With the government telling them to evacuate to any nearby school or evacuation center, the demons won't even think of attacking a fortified place. It would also be a place where people would help each other but..."

"But what Atsuro? What's wrong? To me, its fishy. Something just doesn't make sense. Why would they have people evacuate from their homes to an evacuation center? Just because of alleged invisible poisonous gases?"

"Exactly Yuzu. That's what I'm getting from their announcements. Its too... _suspicious_ but we don't have any some kind of rebuttals to their claims. However, I know, _we_ know there no such thing as an invisible poisonous gases in the subways nor any place in their announcements. Remember the fiasco at Shibuya Station this morning? About the _strange explosion_ the night before?"

"Hm... I remember. Is it connected to it?"

"Probably. The strange explosion is caused by demons, the Wendigo to be exact. It made the people to avoid the Cemetery or any place near Aoyama that day, preventing them to get near the demons," Atsuro remarked as he rearranged himself on his comforter on the floor. Kazu was still sleeping wearing his shorts and sleeveless shirt that Atsuro forced on him to wear. The teen was knocked out cold after the events at the arena that he was _dead as a rock_.

Yuzu went out when that happened. She might have spent countless times with the two but she won't be a pervert and try to take a peek at his best friend's naked body. The same thing applies to her when she's the one undressing, the boys vacating the room she was in. Atsuro and Kazu were friends in elementary, a few years before she became friends with them, so she guessed Atsuro had spent countless of times with Kazu to be comfortable with him getting half naked.

Nevertheless, Atsuro changed his best friend's clothes and threw the dirty clothes to the wash, along with their earlier laundry. Good thing that they also had a dryer, the _enchanted_ clothes were something she wanted to wear _again_.

"But... I... I can't put my finger on it."

* * *

.

They found a gasoline station where there was a stock of gasoline cans for them to buy. But the attendant was a finicky one, he won't let them sell it because he wanted to sell it to the man who bought the stock of the other stations at _any price they made_. Greedy little bastard.

All three of them had no regrets when Kazu and Atsuro punched the unsuspecting man, knocking him out instantly. Though their knuckles were a bit sore, a _Dia_ from her did the trick on healing it. Kazu still left a bundle of cash on the counter for the man to find when he wakes up, as _payment_ for the gasoline they 'bought'. Still, what a greedy little bastard.

Continuous applications of Masukukaja from Kazu, they breezed their way back to Atsuro's house. Leaving the gasoline cans at the shed where the generator was stored, they left the house and rode their way towards the arena. The streets were almost empty, cars were already parked at the sides, and people were already returning to their houses or apartments. It was clear they don't want to be out in the streets when there's no power.

One by one, the generators of several buildings began to hum around them and the lights from the buildings shone through the windows and made some light on the road. Though the sun was still up in the sky, it was on the horizon and the sky was already in its reddish orange color.

Instead of going through the winding roads along the Science Museum, they passed through the entrance near Yasukuni Shrine, around the corner of Waseda-dori and Uchibori-dori. When they were near the arena, they could hear a woman singing beyond the wooden doors. They could also hear a garbled cry that sound so similar to them.

When Kazu and Atsuro tried to slam themselves into the wooden doors using their 'enhanced' strength, they heard a sharp cry from behind them and a torrent of electric bolts slammed at the door. Turning around, Yuzu made a gasp. A demon was behind them.

Quickly throwing a blast of fire to the red colored demon, it shrieked before it went into particles. Seeing that the door was already damaged, Kazu blasted it with a purple ball of energy while he cast a barrier of sorts at her and Atsuro to prevent any of the shrapnel to hit them.

Good thing they arrived just in time, and they also brought their COMPs with them - not that they ever left without it since it was a pretty good replacement for a watch -, because Haru was surrounded by demons and it was a bad thing for someone like Haru to find herself in such a situation.

* * *

.

A ping alerted them of an e-mail from the sleeping teen's COMP. Yuzu was the one who was near the bedside table so she took the COMP and opened it. "Huh. Its from a... how do you read this? Anyway, its not from Naoya since you already told him what happened this evening."

"...Hmm that reminds me. Did you personalized your COMP after you got it yesterday?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Is your COMP handle [YUZ]?"

"...How in the world?"

"Apparently Naoya forgot to mention it yesterday. Our COMPs could get the handles of other COMP users as long as they are within a certain range and spent a minimum of 10 minutes in its range. I don't know if its a side-effect of the [Harmonizer] or something but it automatically registers the COMP handle in your contacts," Atsuro told her as he showed her the contact list of his COMP. He the continued speaking as he took back the COMP from her hands, "But it doesn't take in consideration of the COMPs that weren't 'personalized' and by 'personalized' I meant by registering a handle name to the COMP."

"Would it also affect other COMPs? You know, the ones without the _program_?"

"Hm... I don't think so. Naoya said our COMPs are running on a private server, right? It could be possible in the future but I highly doubt so at the moment. But I'll send an e-mail to him now and maybe he could give me an answer tomorrow." He then went to type an e-mail, leaving Yuzu alone for a moment.

Checking her COMP, she saw she had two contracts on her contact list. A [SOULSRVR] and a [AT-LOW]. Kazu's and Atsuro's, most likely. There was also a [NAOYA], probably Naoya's. "Wait a minute Atsuro! How in the first place did Naoya sent us an e-mail in the first place? Our COMPS weren't registered at that time and he had no COMP with him at Aoyama!"

"...Maybe he had saved the FTP address of our COMPs on his COMP. He made the programming in these COMP, Yuzu, so he may have done something that allowed him to send e-mail directly and passing by the requirements for one to be registered in our contacts."

"Huh. You're probably right." Seeing that she wouldn't lose anything, she went to type a message for Kazu to read when he wakes up in the morning. Atsuro had walked her though how to properly use the different applications in it so she was pretty comfortable in using it now, unlike the time she had broken her old COMP that even Atsuro can't fix it.

Not that the old COMP was a good model but...

Still, she took the time to type out her frustrations and set an alarm for tomorrow morning. From what Naoya had implied through his e-mail to Atsuro, he heard there was an exit somewhere near Shinagawa Station. One that was hidden underground but he hadn't able to check it since it was already dark and the fact that there was _someone_ distributing altered COMPs like the ones they found at the arena...

It was disturbing to a fault. Naoya admitted to them that he made the program for the Shomonkai and Atsuro told her that it was possible for the Shomonkai to copy the program and distribute its copies in different COMPs. And there was with the man they met in the arena that evening, obsessed with Haru and her _power._ Whatever that was.

* * *

.

Yuzu was busy fllinging out balls of fire and bolts of electricity while also healing any injuries she and Atsuro had received from the attacks of the demons. Atsuro was focused on punching any demons that come near them, which were quite effective given that he had a Pierce+ [Passive] that allows his attacks to be received fully without any resistances. She and Atsuro was figuratively 'holding down the fort' while Kazu went to do his thing.

He told them of his 'personal' skills that couldn't be copied by the _program_ , which were a product of his training in magic under his brother, because they weren't _installed_ by it to him. Kazu's skills were unique to a point, the three of them can agree that some of his skills _could_ be 'learned' by them when they met the requirements to 'equip' it, that it was super useful to them.

 _Masukukaja_ gave them the boost in speed which they frequently used when they were on the bikes all day long. The barriers he made were very useful in shielding them from damage and she had witnessed him using those _Megido_ balls against the other demons. She also witnessed how he charged at a group of demons like a meteor, blasting the demons into particles. The fact that they were skills of her best friend was something she couldn't give words.

They also didn't forgot about his other skills. They never had seen how _Agneyastra_ works, but according to Kazu he was taught by his brother to use it in emergencies and he admitted he never remembered if he ever did cast it once before.

_**"I invoke thee the might of earth and fire! Bring down the might of the celestial bodies! Primordial creations in its basic form, descend on our enemies! As the Second Son of Humanity, I order Agneyastra!"** _

So when she and Atsuro felt _something_ happening behind them that even the demons in front of them paused and stopped attacking them, both of them turned around. What they saw was something she never expected to see. Neither did Atsuro, based on his reaction.

"...Is that a meteor? No, meteors?!"

"When he said to us that he would be making the stars fall, I thought he wasn't serious and was just joking."

The sky above them began to distort around and rocks started to fall from it, descending on the demons and the miasmas. Several of the so-called 'meteor showers' fell to the ground around them.

Looking behind them and shifting her attention at her surroundings, she could see the span of Kazu's attack. The entire space above them were distorting as if it was letting the rocks pass through an invisible barrier, making ripples in mid-air as the rocks pass through them and start to blaze against the air. Every 'meteor' that hit a demon or a miasma exploded causing the affected demon to shatter into particles and the miasma to dissipate.

The meteors also hit the sketches the crazy man laid down in advance around the parking lot. As if the meteors were also targeting him, they almost managed to hit the man but he was able to evade it at the last second. Unfortunately for him, when the rocks crashed to the ground it also explodes. The resulting explosions from the meteors blasted him towards Kazu, who was standing a few meters ahead of them with his right arm raised to the skies and his left hand clutching to his COMP.

He had his back at them but Yuzu could see that he wasn't wearing his headphones. The flames brought by the exploded meteors that keep on falling to them also shone some light to their surroundings. Yuzu could have swore that moment that Kazu had blue hair. _All of his hair was a shade of_ _blue_.

With every meteor that fell, it shattered every demon it hit. In a span of a minute, the entire parking area of the arena was full of holes with flames in it and countless scorch marks around them. Kazu was still raising his right arm.

**_"A plea that it would keep them safe, wounds healed and sickness recovered. Therefor I give my Prayer!"_ **

Suddenly she felt _great_ as if she just woke up from a good night's sleep. But that was only a temporary feeling. When she checked herself, she saw the wounds and small cuts and scrapes she received from her dodges and received attacks from the demons all healed up. Thankfully there wasn't a very serious injury.

Even Haru, who was bleeding at her leg and didn't noticed it before, was all healed up. Atsuro's knuckles were also healed up and the soreness of his bruises all disappeared.

Kazu was still standing there in the center of the parking lot, holding the man by his shirt at the neck and was busy questioning him. He still had his back at them. The man was angry at their friend and by the way he was almost frothing at the mouth, she was tempted to throw a _Zio_ at the man.

She could hear his friend tell the man something about 'foolishness' and 'futility'. Yuzu couldn't hear much from what her friend said but she was soon shocked when Kazu let go of the man, the man tried to gut her friend when he pulled a pocket knife from his pocket. Kazu punched him with a glowing fist that caused the man to fly towards the other side of the park and knocking him unconscious.

Atsuro made a move to walk towards the teen with the black shirt but the sky began to lose its red tint and was replaced by a very bright light. So bright she had to close and shut her eyes with her hands and arms. It lasted for a minute or two - the longest thing she had experience to suffer when being flashed-.

When the three of them came around, the area around them had the flames extinguished and the light from the sky began to recede, plunging them slowly into the darkness. The demons around them were surprisingly gone. Kazu on the other hand was knocked out on the ground, delirious from the entire thing.

His eyes shut, he said to Yuzu and Atsuro who rushed to him dragged him up, "Let me take a rest, I'll be find in the morning." After he was completely unconscious.

"We can't take him on a bike! It's dangerous!"

"What should we do?!"

The singer with them then interrupted with a casual remark of 'a car'. Yuzu could see there was a car at the corner of the parking lot and went to it. It had gasoline and was still running. "Haru! Can you drive?!"

 


End file.
